MD Community Medicine In India: Check Out Admission Process, Fees, Medical Colleges To Apply, Syllabus, Eligibility Criteria details

The course is a full-time course pursued at various recognized medical colleges across the country. Some of the top medical colleges offering this course include GITAM Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (Visakhapatnam), Apollo Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (Chittoor), Government Medical College (Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Med. Col.)(Rajnandgaon) and more.

Admission to this course is done through the NEET PG Entrance exam conducted by the National Board of Examinations, followed by counseling based on the scores of the exam that is conducted by DGHS/MCC/State Authorities.

The fee for pursuing MD (Community Medicine) varies from college to college and may range from Rs. 45k to 8.67 Lakh per year.

After completion of their respective course, doctors can either join the job market or pursue a super-specialization course where MD Community Medicine is a feeder qualification. Candidates can take reputed jobs at positions as Senior residents, Junior Consultants, Consultants, etc. with an approximate salary range of Rs 7.3 Lakh to Rs 24 Lakh per anum.

What is MD in Community Medicine?

Doctor of Medicine in Community Medicine, also known as MD (Community Medicine) is a three-year postgraduate program that candidates can pursue after completing MBBS.

Community Medicine is the branch of medical science dealing with the health of the members of a community, municipality, or region.

National Medical Commission (NMC), the apex medical regulator, has released a Guidelines for Competency-Based Postgraduate Training Programme for MD in Community Medicine.

The Competency-Based Postgraduate Training Programme governs the education and training of MDs in Community Medicine.

The PG education intends to create specialists who can contribute to high-quality health care and advances in science through research and training.

The required training done by a postgraduate specialist in the field of Community Medicine would help the specialist to recognize the health needs of the community. The student should be competent to handle medical problems effectively and should be aware of the recent advances in their speciality.

The candidate should be a highly competent Community Medicine possessing a broad range of skills that will enable her/him to practice Community Medicine independently. The PG candidate should also acquire the basic skills in the teaching medical/para-medical students.

The candidate is also expected to know the principles of research methodology and modes of the consulting library. The candidate should regularly attend conferences, workshops, and CMEs to upgrade her/ his knowledge.

Course Highlights

Here are some of the course highlights of MD in Community Medicine-

Name of Course	MD in Community Medicine
Level	Postgraduate
Duration of Course	Three years
Course Mode	Full Time
Minimum Academic Requirement	MBBS degree obtained from any college/university recognized by the Medical Council of India
Admission Process / Entrance Process / Entrance Modalities	Entrance Exam (NEET PG) INI CET for various AIIMS, PGIMER Chandigarh, JIPMER Puducherry, NIMHANS Bengaluru Counselling by DGHS/MCC/State Authorities
Course Fees	Rs 45 k to Rs 8.67 lakh per year
Average Salary	Rs 7.3 Lakh to Rs 24 lakh per anum

Eligibility Criteria

The eligibility criteria for MD in Community Medicine are defined as the set of rules or minimum prerequisites that aspirants must meet in order to be eligible for admission, which includes:

• Candidates must be in possession of an undergraduate MBBS degree from any college/university recognized by the Medical Council of India (MCI).

• Candidates should have done a compulsory rotating internship of one year in a teaching institution or other institution which is recognized by the Medical Council of India (MCI).
• The candidate must have obtained permanent registration of any State Medical Council to be eligible for admission.
• The medical college's recognition cut-off dates for the MBBS Degree courses and compulsory rotatory Internship shall be as prescribed by the Medical Council of India (now NMC)
  

Admission Process

The admission process contains a few steps to be followed in order by the candidates for admission to MD in Community Medicine. Candidates can view the complete admission process for MD in Community Medicine mentioned below:

•  The NEET PG or National Eligibility Entrance Test for Post Graduate is a national-level master's level examination conducted by the NBE for admission to MD/MS/PG Diploma Courses.

• The requirement of eligibility criteria for participation in counselling towards PG seat allotment conducted by the concerned counselling authority shall be in lieu of the Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations (as per the latest amendment) notified by the MCI (now NMC) with prior approval of MoHFW.

S.No.	Category	Eligibility Criteria
1.	General	50th Percentile
2.	SC/ST/OBC (Including PWD of SC/ST/OBC)	40th Percentile
3.	UR PWD	45th Percentile

• The following Medical institutions are not covered under centralized admissions for MD/MS seats through NEET- PG:

1. AIIMS, New Delhi and other AIIMS

2. PGIMER, Chandigarh

3. JIPMER, Puducherry

4. NIMHANS, Bengaluru

Fees Structure

The fee structure for MD in Community Medicine varies from college to college. The fee is generally less for Government Institutes and more for private institutes. The average fee structure for MD in Community Medicine is around INR 45 k to 8.67 lakh per year.

Colleges offering MD in Community Medicine

There are various medical colleges across India that offer courses for pursuing MD (Community Medicine).

As per National Medical Commission (NMC) website, the following medical colleges are offering MD (Community Medicine) courses for the academic year 2022-23.

Syllabus

An MD in Community Medicine is a three years specialization course that provides training in the stream of Community Medicine.

The course content for MD in Community Medicine is given in the Competency-Based Postgraduate Training Programme released by National Medical Commission, which can be assessed through the link mentioned below:

1. Conceptual (and applied) understanding of Public Health, Community Medicine, clinical disease-oriented approach, Preventive approach & Health promotion, disease control & promotion.

Learning objectives:

At the end of this course topic, the student should be able to:-

i. Understand and explain the concept & application and give suitable analogies/examples related to Public Health/Community Medicine (with differences), Disease-oriented v/s Preventive approach, health promotion disease control & prevention.

ii. Explain correlation between health and human development with analogies/ examples.

iii. Explain concept of Primordial, Primary, Secondary and Tertiary prevention with examples.

v. Evolutionary History and mile-stones in Public Health – National and International levels.

2. Communicable and Non-Communicable diseases, emerging and re-emerging diseases Learning objectives:

At the end of this course, the student should be able to:-

i. Understand and explain Epidemiology of Communicable/Non-communicable diseases- its causes, precipitating factors, social & other non- health causes, mechanisms of transmission, signs/systems, management, control & prevention measures, related national Health Programmes & national Guidelines, Directives, special projects, if any.

ii. Explain application of Disease surveillance system in control of Communicable/Non- communicable diseases.

iii. Explain & undertake steps to investigate & control outbreaks, epidemics and take measures to prevent the same.

iv. Evolve prevention & control measures based on local & regional epidemiological funding, synchronizing with National guidelines.

3. Applied Epidemiology, Health research, Bio-statistics

Learning objectives:

At the end of this course, the student should be able to:-

i. Explain the concept & application of Epidemiology of Disease and Health giving suitable examples.

ii. Explain Epidemiological approach, the terms Distribution & Determinants, uses, types of Epidemiological studies, interpretation, merits/demerits and limitations, odds ratio, relative risk, attributable & population attributable risks, Hybrid designs (with examples), validity of Epidemiological Data and application in practice at field level.

iii. Explain Epidemiological Research methods, Research related protocols, Literature review, estimating sample size, data collection/ compilation/Analysis/ Research, interpretation.

iv. Develop Health interventional programs based on Epidemiological Finding & create evidence for Public Health action.

v. Understand difference between data, information & intelligence, types of data, survey methods, formulating questionnaires, interview schedule, data presentation types & analysis.

vi. Apply computer based software application for data designing, data management & collation analysis e.g. SPSS, Epi-info, MS office and other advanced versions.

4. Nutrition Learning objectives:

At the end of this course, the student should be able to:-

i. Identify various nutritional problems in the region, state and country and contributing factors for the same, with due emphasis on ecology perspectives.

ii. Explain importance of various nutrients (including micronutrients) in health, their sources, requirements and problems associated with their deficiencies as well as over consumption.

iii. Plan balanced diet and dietary requirements of various age and sex groups.

iv. Dietary/nutritional concerns of vulnerable groups – young children, adolescents, ANC/PNC/Lactating mothers/senior citizens/individuals with various health problems e.g hypertension, diabetes, renal problems etc.

v. Classification of food, food additives, food fortification, food enrichment, food toxins and food adulteration.

vi. Explain Food production, Food hygiene and safety, food storage, food preparation, food wastage and feeding practices.

vii. Assessment of nutritional status of a community by adopting different methodologies.

viii. Nutritional supplementation, surveillance, education and rehabilitation.

ix. National programmes in nutrition and their evaluation

x. National nutrition policy.

5. Environmental health Learning objectives:

At the end of this course, the student should be able to:-

i. Highlight importance of external environment (air, water, noise, radiation, temperature, ventilation, solid waste disposal, insects and vectors, domestic and country yard pests, industrial waste disposal etc. and its impact on ecology and human health.

ii. Elaborate on health issues related to housing, air, water, noise, radiation pollution i.e. size of problems, area and specific groups affected, measurement of pollution levels and health impact of the same, corrective measures

iii. Elaborate on requirements of water, water chlorination and household purification measures, measurement of chlorine demand, Break-point chlorination levels, water quality.

iv. Assessment of quality of water and air, control of air pollution

v. Explain environmental sanitation and control measures (including appropriate technologies) – modern methods of sewage disposal, mechanical ventilation, soakage pits, gobar gas plants, smokeless Chula, solar energy, rainwater harvesting, sewage water recycling plants at society level etc.

vi. Explain global warming and its health impact.

vii. Elaborate on forest reserves, social forestry and health

viii. Study vectors of medical importance and integrated control measures against them.

ix. Explain dynamics of transmission of vector borne diseases

x. Explain pest control measures

xi. Explain environmental health issues in urban and rural areas

xii. Understand functioning of public sector measures to safeguard environmental health e.g water purification plant

xiii. Explain Legislative measures for protection of environmental health

6. Primary Health Care System, Panchayat Raj, National Health Programmes including RCH, Demography & Family Welfare:

Learning Objectives

At the end of this course, the student should be able to:-

i. Explain the meaning of Primary Health Care with suitable analogies with reference to India, and be able to define the systems approach for implementation of Primary Health Care.

ii. Enumerate the elements, principles, population coverage norms, staff patterns, day to day activities, programme schedule, stakeholders at PHC level.

iii. Explain the scope and implications of 3-tier system of Primary Health Care.

iv. Understand functioning of Rural Panchayat Raj system of development and its co-relation with health.

v. Promote community participation in Primary Health Care programme and motivate various stakeholders for the same.

vi. Understand and comply with medico-legal procedures related to Primary Health Care activities.

vii. Integrate, coordinate both health and non-health sectors for implementing various national health programmes.

viii. Deliver the provisions of various health schemes to eligible be beneficiaries such as Janani Suraksha Yojana, Rashtriya Swasthya Beema Yojana, Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayi Arogya Yojana etc.

ix. Impart training in health programmes for paramedical workers, lab technicians, community health volunteer's, interns and provide health education in the community.

x. Implement Public Health Skills for investigations and containment of outbreaks & epidemics.

xi. Understand history of evolution of public health, important milestones in the world and in India.

xii. Enumerate the various health committees established and their major recommendations since 1947-48 to till date.

7. Health Care Administration, Health Management and Public Health Leadership

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, the student should be able to:-

i. Explain the conceptual difference between Administration and Management, Power and Authority with reference to health care.

ii. Explain the role of fundamental principles of constitution, principles of Democracy and its correlation with health care administration.

iii. Explain the role of Bureaucracy, Technocracy, Political system, Judiciary, Media and people in health care administration.

iv. Explain and identify the key positions and their role in health administration at State, District, Taluka (Tehsil block) and village level.

v. Explain the frame work of health care system at State, District, Taluka & village level and understand the mechanism of coordination between bureaucrats, technocrats, political, judiciary and media at each of these levels.

vi. Enumerate functions of a manager, explain concepts of management and leadership styles, various management techniques, planning process, monitoring & evaluation skills.

vii. Should be sensitive to quality issues in health care management and comply with relevant quality management techniques.

viii. Formulate and manage team approach for implementing health programmes.

ix. Apply skills of effective human resource management and identify relevant roles, responsibilities and duties of functionaries.

x. Implement skills of motivation, communication, negotiation and conflict management at PHC level.

xi. Develop budgetary statements based on evidence of needs assessment and be able to maintain account of expenditure as per norms.

xii. Undertake community health needs survey, conduct training & communication needs assessment of paramedical and health workers, identify vulnerable, underprivileged communities, implements high risk approach.

8. Health Policy, Medical Education, Integrating Alternative system of Medicine

Learning Objectives

At the end of this course, the student should be able to:-

i. Understand and elaborate implications of the policy provision with reference to the current health scenario in the country.

ii. Explain the role of health policy in promotion of Primary Health care, ensuring equity, inter- sectoral co-ordination, appropriate technology and community participation.

iii. Explain the various provisions for promotion of preventive and curative health services including National Health Mission, National Health Programs, Quality Hospital based services, Medical Education and AYUSH.

iv. Critically appreciate merits and demerits of the Health Policy.

v. Explain SWOT analysis of the policy and debate on evidence based recommendations, additions, deletions.

vi. Debate on suggestions or recommendations for future inclusions.

9. Social and behavioral sciences Learning objectives:

At the end of this course, the student should be able to:-

i. Understand influence of social and behavioral practices on health.

ii. Understand principles of behavior change of an individual and community. Clearly understand difference between knowledge, attitude and practices..

iii. Understand importance of social medicine and health.

iv. Importance of behavior change communication (BCC).

v. Socio-cultural factors influencing behavior change.

vi. Formal and informal organizations in the community.

vii. Influence of peer pressure.

viii. Know the health problems, where BCC interventions are necessary.

ix. Understand factors promoting and detrimental to BCC.

11. Public Health Legislations Learning objectives:

At the end of this course, the student should be able to:-

i. Explain public health legislations and need for the same.

ii. Know in detail each public health law – when, why, implementation, impact, issues etc.

iii. Enforcement of various public health laws.

iv. Judiciary mechanism for ensuring proper implementation of public health laws.

v. Scope for integrated approach for implementation of public health laws.

12. International Health Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, the student should be able to:-

i. Understand the need and scope for international health measures.

ii. Enlist and understand functioning of various UN agencies (including WHO) playing key role in international health.

iii. Enlist and understand functioning of bilateral vs multilateral international donor agencies.

iv. Provide advice to international travelers and vaccination requirements,

v. Understand International health control measures e.g. quarantine, airport management etc.

vi. Understand the management of international ports from health perspectives.

13. Occupational Health Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, the student should be able to:-

i. Understand the concept of occupational health and its importance, Occupational environment and work dynamics.

ii. Know different types of occupational exposures at various settings.

iii. Enlist various occupational hazards and their relative magnitude.

iv. Understand measurement of exposure levels to harmful influences during occupation.

v. Understand preventive and control measures against various occupational hazards – global, national and local level measures.

vi. Understand individual and community responses towards preventing exposure to occupational hazards.

vii. Understand and advise occupational safety measures.

viii. Understand legislative measures to prevent exposures to occupational hazards.

ix. Advise compensation provisions to persons exposed to various occupational hazards.

x. Understand occupational health problems amongst people in unorganized sector

xi. Understand and advise social security and welfare provisions for workers – ESIS, Factory's Act, Role of ILO, Ministry of Labor, DGFASLI.

14. The recent advances in Public Health & miscellaneous issues Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, the student should be able to:-

i. identify & enlist events at local, district, national & global levels influencing or adversely affecting health /medical issues of the population.

ii. Adopt & practise skills related to utilization of modern technology, software, IT application in the interest of health promotion & disease prevention.

15. Health Economics Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, the student should be able to: -

i. Describe the scope of health economics.

ii. Understand health market & its characteristics.

iii. Understand & apply economic evaluation techniques.

iv. Assess the mechanism of Funding Health Care services, especially health insurance.

v. Advise on alocation of resources appropriately in their work area

Career Options

After completing an MD in Community Medicine, candidates will get employment opportunities in Government as well as in the Private sector.

In the Government sector, candidates have various options to choose from which include Registrar, Senior Resident, Demonstrator, Tutor, etc.

While in the Private sector the options include Resident Doctor, Consultant, Visiting Consultant Community Medicine, Junior Consultant, Senior Consultant Community Medicine, Consultant Community Medicine Specialist, etc.

Courses After MD in Community Medicine Course

MD in Community Medicine is a specialization course that can be pursued after finishing MBBS. After pursuing a specialization in MD (Community Medicine), a candidate could also pursue super specialization courses recognized by NMC, where MD (Community Medicine) is a feeder qualification.

Frequently Asked Question (FAQs) – MD in Community Medicine Course

Question: What is an MD in Community Medicine?

Answer: MD Anesthesia or Doctor of Medicine in Community Medicine also known as MD in Community Medicine is a Postgraduate level course for doctors in India that is done by them after completion of their MBBS.

Question: What is the duration of an MD in Community Medicine?

Answer: MD in Community Medicine is a postgraduate programme of three years.

Question: What is the eligibility of an MD in Community Medicine?

Answer: Candidates must be in possession of an undergraduate MBBS degree from any college/university recognized by the Medical Council of India.

Question: What is the scope of an MD in Community Medicine?

Answer: MD in Community Medicine offers candidates various employment opportunities and career prospects.

Question: What is the average salary for an MD in Community Medicine postgraduate candidate?

Answer: The MD in Community Medicine candidate's average salary is between Rs 7.3 Lakh to Rs 24.0 Lakh per anum depending on the experience.

Question: Is community medicine a good career?

Answer: Public health/ community medicine is a growing field with a number of job opportunities in various areas, like health services (hospitals), health education/ behavioural science, environmental health, nutrition, public health practice, NGOs and so on.