Research should be viewed as integral part of medical learning, not just exam requirement: NMC Chairman

Referring to the Government's insistence to increase the number of medical seats, he added, "We all are very aware that there is a drive from the government to increase the number of seats to meet the WHO standard of 1:1000 doctors, as well as, we need to meet the International Standard of UG/PG ratio of at least 1:1. Now, doing so, the major challenges coming to all those regulatory organisations and government and the stakeholders is about valuing the quality of medical education and at the helm of our affairs simultaneously. While looking at the increasing number of medical opportunities, at the same time, we must make sure that we continue our strong focus on the quality of medical education. So, both the numbers and quality are equally important for us."

"Medical Education in India has undergone transformation from a rigid syllabus-bound system to more competency-based driven approach. The introduction of competency-based education and curriculum is certainly a landmark move from NMC. It shifts the focus from what we teach to what the students learn and can do. This reform demands that our institutions are more beyond learning and promoting nurturing the skills of clinical reasoning, communication, professionalism, and empathy build up. And this is very very important, characters building up as a professional curriculum with the medical education simultaneously," added the NMC Chief.

Dr. Sheth pointed out how in the 21st century, the classrooms are no longer confined within the four walls. "Digital platforms, virtual simulation, now you have seen, heard a lot of deliberations about AI learning tools and telemedicine exposure are part of our new educational ecosystem," he pointed out.

However, he also opined that these tools can only be effective with the help of capable teachers. Therefore, highlighting the importance of focusing on teaching faculty, he added, "these tools are only as effective as the teachers who use them and the environment in which they are placed. Faculty development, therefore, still remains a key to the quality of medical education and research and I must say that still the most important compotent is to ensure that we have a very strong faculty development propgramme at all the regulatory agencies and very strong focus on making sure that there should be enough teaching resources available for the faculty, human resources."

Importance of Clinical Research: 

During his keynote address, the NMC Chairperson also highlighted the need to focus on clinical research and mentioned, "However, If medical education provides what and how of knowledge, the clinical research provides the why. India is home to brilliant minds and a diverse patient population. We have seen the Indian master all across the globe, and this is only our education system that has produced. So, I don't think there is a dearth of medical talents within the country, although we are restricted by diversities and dichotomy. We feel that there is a huge scope for clinical research, yet our research outputs still lag behind the global benchmarks in innovations and outcomes."

"We must strengthen our research culture at undergraduate and postgraduate training level which are the formative years of training for most of the aspiring doctors. Research should not be viewed as forced exercise to be eligible for exams, but as an integral part of medical learning. And in fact, I must say that ECFMG board leaders recently included the clinical research in the core disciplines of clinical medicine. So, that itself indicates the importance of clinical research as an integral part of clinical medicine," he added.

"From the very first year, the very first year students should be encouraged to ask questions, design studies and think critically about the evidence-based clinical research, and certainly we should start from the first year of MBBS. There are several areas of concern which need to be addressed collectively. While premier institutions like AIIMS and PGI and many other institutions which have set up the Gold standard across the globe, many peripheral colleges face shortages in the faculty, infrastructure, and research. There are the migration of skilled professionals and researchers to the other countries remain a huge challenge. We must create opportunities and incentives for them to build their careers within the country. The stream of Family Medicine needs to be supported by bringing change in the regulations and recruitment rules, so that the career progression pathway is available for the Family Physicians and Family Medicine to prevail," he mentioned.

Rural-urban disparity: 

Dr. Sheth also addressed the issue of rural-urban disparity and highlighted that the medical students need to understand the real-life problems related to public health and understand how healthcare workers operate at the grassroot levels.

"The rural-urban disparity has to be addressed before it gets too late. Mental health and communication in healthcare topics which were ignored have assumed high importance in today's scenario and therefore cannot be ignored. The future of medical education in India must focus more on learning from community, students should understand real-life and problems public health needs and how healthcare workers work at the grassroots," said the NMC chairperson.

"Spending time in the rural health centres and learning about preventive healthcare will help them become well rounded doctors who care for the whole person, not just the disease. We also need to look at our own students- burnt out, stressed, emotional exhaustion are becoming common in the medical colleges. To train doctors who care for others we must make sure they feel supported. This means having a counselling services, good mentoring and learning environment that protects the mental health," he added.

"Partnership with the international universities and research centres will certainly enrich our educational and research landscape across the world. Transforming medical education and research is not the responsibility of the Government alone. It demands partnership amongst the policymakers, educators, researchers, students, industry, and the community at large. With my experience of both National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences and NMC, what we have learnt that we must keep focus on our old roots which is not only the guru shishya parampara, but at the same time, the physical education, which is the most important and what we call it that is the gold standard of education, but simultaneously with the increasing complexity and the technology and to meet up the demands of competency-based education, we must focus on Skill and Virtual training progrmmes even the AI-based programes with understanding of the educational limitations, we need to adopt all these innovative methods and we also need to adopt digital and e-learning to ensure that uniformity of the learning established across the country because that will be one of the best landmark which I feel that we must advance from simple physical education model to five digital model and that will address all of these issues," Dr. Sheth added.

Acknowledging the challenges, the NMC Chief added, "The part ahead is not without challenges, but it is full of opportunities with smart policies, committed institutions and the right use of technology and focus on student well being India can shape a new generation of doctors who are skilled, ethical, research-minded, and ready-to-work anywhere in the world. I must, on behalf of the NMC, we must commit that we are not here to rule the doctors but we are here to help the doctors and the medical fraternity. I must say that this is more a responsibility, collective responsibility on all of us than merely an authority which has to be imposed by us and let us work and pursue excellence. We must never lose sight of our values, empathy, integrity and patient wellfare. Sarvey sukhinam, sarvey santu Niramayaha."

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