MBBS in bilingual mode: Govt says NMC CBME integrates English with regional languages

New Delhi: The Competency Based Medical Education (CBME) curriculum of the National Medical Commission (NMC) provides for medical education in a bilingual mode, Union Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel informed the Lok Sabha.

As per the information shared by the Minister, the CBME provides for teaching, learning and assessment in a bilingual mode integrating English with regional languages such as Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odiya, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.

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The information was shared by the Minister while responding to questions raised by the parliament member who sought to know whether the Government is formulating a comprehensive policy to offer MBBS, BAMS, BHMS and other medical courses in Hindi and other mother tongues, whether any National mechanism has been put in place for the translation of medical textbooks, the standardisation of technical terminology and development of digital study materials.

He further asked about the concrete steps taken so far to increase the participation of students from rural and disadvantaged communities in mother tongue-based medical education in the country and the details of the time frames and the budgetary provisions for the effective implementation of this initiative in the country.

In response to these queries, Patel informed that "The Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) curriculum issued by the National Medical Commission (NMC) provides for teaching, learning and assessment in a bilingual mode integrating English with regional languages such as Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odiya, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu."

She further informed that the Foundation Course under the CBME curriculum aims to prepare learners for effective medical study by fostering skills in language, interpersonal relationships, communication and other related competencies. Additionally, learners may be enrolled concurrently in a local language programme, an English language programme or a computer skills training programme.

Moreover, the Minister said "As informed by the Ministry of AYUSH, the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) has undertaken various initiatives to standardise Ayurveda terminology, including the publication of the Standardized Ayurveda Terminologies on the National Ayush Morbidity and Standardized Terminologies Electronic Portal (NAMASTE Portal). CCRAS has also contributed to the development of the WHO International Standard Terminologies on Ayurveda and the Traditional Medicine Module 2 of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and has developed electronic versions of classical Ayurveda texts such as Charakasamhita and Sushrutasamhita, which are available online."

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