NMC Releases Draft Regulations of Minimum Standard Requirements for Establishment of New Medical College, Increase in MBBS Seats, invites comments
New Delhi: With an aim to prescribe minimum requirements of accommodation in a new medical college and its associated teaching hospitals, the National Medical Commission has released draft Regulations of NMC Minimum Standard Requirements for Establishment of New Medical College/Increase of seats in MBBS Course Regulations, 2023.
Releasing these regulations in the public domain, the Director of NMC Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB), Shambhu Sharan Kumar mentioned in a notice dated 23.06.2023, "The Undergraduate Medical Education Board proposes to make the above mentioned regulations in exercise of powers vested with NMC under sub Section (2) of section 57 read with Section 26. 28 & 29 of NMC Act. 2019 (30 of 2019). A draft regulation in this regard is being shared for public comments."
Inviting comments regarding these draft regulations, the NMC notice further mentioned, "It is requested to share comments on the draft regulations at the following email id comments.ugregulations@nmc.org.in in MS Word (.docx) format or machine readable PDF Format within 30 days of publication of this notice with a subject tagline “Comments on draft regulations regarding National Medical Commission (Minimum Standard Requirements for Establishment of New Medical College/Increase of seats in MBBS Course) Regulations, 2023."
In these draft regulations NMC has discussed the accommodation in the medical college and its associated teaching hospitals, department offices, rooms for staff and other requirements, Aadhar enabled biometric attendance system (AEBAS) & close circuit TV monitoring of medical colleges/institutes and hospitals, biomedical waste management, etc.
Draft Regulations of National Medical Commission (Minimum Standard Requirements for Establishment of New Medical College/Increase of seats in MBBS Course) Regulations, 2023
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 57 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 (30 of 2019), the National Medical Commission hereby makes the following guidelines for Establishment of the new Medical Colleges/Institutions and Yearly Renewals.
The objective of these regulations is to prescribe for a medical college and Medical Institution approved for admissions of MBBS students annually, the minimum requirements of accommodation in the college and its associated teaching hospitals, staff (teaching and technical) and equipment in the college departments and hospitals.
These guidelines shall be applicable for Medical Colleges being established from the academic session 2024-25 onwards. Applications for establishing new medical colleges shall be allowed only for 50/100/150 seats.
- Only such colleges meeting these requirements shall be eligible for continuing their admission of permitted/recognised number of MBBS students from the academic year 2024-2025.
- Colleges applying for establishment from the year 2024-25, shall apply with these requirements for a strength, not exceeding 150 MBBS students.
- Colleges seeking increased number of seats cannot exceed a total of 150 MBBS students from the year 2024-25.
- With the exception that colleges who have applied for academic year 2023-24 for increased seats but failed to get the same, can ask for the same number (totalling 200 or 250) that was in their previous application for one time in the year 2024-25 only.
- After A.Y. 2023-24, Letter of permission (LOP) for starting of new medical colleges shall be issued only for annual intake capacity of 50/100/150 seats, provided that no medical college exists in that geographical area covering a population of 10,00,000 (>10 lakhs) and above. While issuing the Essentiality Certificate, State Govemment/UTs is required to ensure coverage of minimum 10 Lakhs population for 100 MBBS seats and also minimum distance of 15 KM between two medical colleges.
- It shall be mandatory for the existing colleges established / colleges granted increase in seat capacity as per MSR 2020 or the previous regulations, to fulfill the requirements stated in these amendments (except for the land requirement and requirement of multi-purpose examination hall) when they apply for recognition or continuation of recognition of the award of degree of MBBS and thereafter.
Departments: Every medical college/ institution approved for under graduate admissions annually shall have the following departments, namely:-
- Anatomy
- Physiology
- Biochemistry
- Pathology
- Microbiology
- Pharmacology
- Forensic Medicine And Toxicology
- Community Medicine
- General Medicine
- Pediatrics
- Psychiatry
- Dermatology
- Respiratory Medicine
- General Surgery
- Orthopaedics
- Radio-Diagnosis
- Oto-Rhinolaryngology
- Ophthalmology
- Obstetrics & Gynaecology
- Anesthesiology
- Dentistry
- Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
- Emergency Medicine
- Integrative Medical Research
ACCOMMODATION IN THE MEDICAL COLLEGE AND ITS ASSOCIATED TEACHING HOSPITALS:
A.COLLEGE
Each unitary campus shall have adequate constructed area on the land, as per the prevalent building norms, belonging to the college management or if on lease, at least for a period of 30 years on lease. If there are 2 plots/ campuses, then college shall be in single plot. The distance between the plots of college and hospital shall have a travel time of maximum of 30 minutes. The hospital shall have at least 220 beds.
The medical college shall provide adequate built-up space to accommodate various teaching areas (both in the college and the teaching hospital), Library, administrative areas, rooms for teaching and non-teaching staff, student amenities, etc. as specified in various sections of this schedule.
The buildings of the medical college and hospital shall conform to the prevailing building codes and local building byelaws/ norms. The hospitals should have fire-safety measures, including patient evacuation plans as per local byelaws and regulations. They must also comply with the requirements for providing access and facilities to those who are disabled. The buildings of the college and hospital shall meet the requirements for the numbers of students to be admitted as prescribed. Co-location of nursing colleges shall be permitted. Sharing of teaching facilities shall be allowed provided that academic sessions of undergraduate medical students are not disturbed.
Administrative Area
There should be adequate accommodation for the Prineipal/Dean. College Council, Academic and examination sections. Accounts, and other administrative offices (as per the need), the medical education unit and the server room for the computer network.
College Council
Even Medical College / Medical Institution shall have a College Council comprising of the Head of departments as members and Principal/ Dean as Chairperson. The Council shall meet at least four times in a year to draw up the details of curriculum and training programme, enforcement of discipline and other academic matters. The Council shall also organise regular interdepartmental meetings like grand rounds, statistical meetings, and clinic-pathological meetings including periodical review of research in the institution.
Central Library
There shall be a central library (preferably air-conditioned) with good lighting and adequate space for stocking the books and journals.
There shall be provision for:
a . Rooms for the Librarian and other staff.
b . Reading rooms with adequate seating for twice the number of annual intake of UG students distributed over 2 areas.
c . Reading room for faculty.
d . Room for stocking old books, journals, etc.
e . A computer room with computer nodes with internet facilities for at least 25% of the annual intake of students.
Books:There shall be at least 30 (Thirty) books per annual intake of students comprising all subjects w ith at least 5 copies of each of the textbooks for every' 50 students, for the various subjects in MBBS curriculum.
Journals:
The minimum number of journals for various annual intake of MBBS students shall be at least 1 percent of the minimum books prescribed.
The journals shall be either in print or electronic form, provided that there shall be at least l(one) print journal of each major specialty departments for MBBS training - Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pathology, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Community Medicine. Medicine. Pediatrics, Dermatology, Psychiatry, Respiratory Medicine, Surgery, Orthopedics, Otorhinolaryngology, Ophthalmology, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Anesthesia. Radio-diagnosis, Dentistry. Emergency Medicine, and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. Provided that only journals that are indexed in the following databases i.e. Pubmed Central (PMC), Medline, Science Citation index (SCI), Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIe), Embase. SCOPUS and INDMED/ Medlnd will be considered. There shall be evidence for a full annual subscription for all these journals.
Annual MBBS Intake | Minimum No. of journals required | Minimum no. of books required |
50 | 15 | 1500 |
100 | 30 | 3000 |
150 | 45 | 4500 |
200 | 60 | 6000 |
250 | 75 | 7500 |
For every hospital seeking permission to start medical college, a total of up to 60% of books can be made be available as hard copies and the remaining 40% be available in electronic format. Variety of journals shall be the same irrespective of annual student intake.
Lecture theatres:
There shall be minimum of four lecture theatres preferably air conditioned, of gallery type in the Institution, each of them with seating capacity for 20% more than the annual student intake (shall provide at least 1.40 sq.m/student).
In case the hospital is not in the same unitary campus there shall be one additional lecture theatre in the teaching hospital with a similar seating capacity as prescribed for the medical college.
The Lecture theatres shall have provision for audio-visual and internet facilities and shall be enabled for e-learning. The lecture theatres shall be linked digitally to all teaching areas designated for small group teaching.
The lecture theatres shall be shared by all the departments in a programmed manner.
Small Group Teaching Facilities:
The size of each batch for small group teaching shall be about 15 students. The common resource pool of teaching rooms, student practical laboratories, museums and lecture theatres and any other available area that can be utilized for teaching purposes as prescribed in these regulations shall all be utilized for small group teaching and shared by the teaching departments. All the above-mentioned teaching areas shall have audio-visual and internet facilities and be linked digitally to one another.
Teaching Rooms: The minimum number of teaching rooms in the medical college for Pre- and Para-Clinical Departments for various intake of MBBS students annually to be shared by all departments, shall be as indicated in the table below' (each teaching room shall provide at least 1.2 sq.m/student):
Annual MBBS student intake | No. of teaching rooms | |
25 seating capacity | 50 seating capacity | |
50 | 1 | 1 |
100 | 2 | 1 |
150 | 4 | 4 |
200 | 7 | 7 |
250 | 9 | 9 |
Student Practical Laboratories:
There shall be at least 8 student practical laboratories, one each for Histology, Clinical Physiology, Biochemistry, Histopathology & cytopathology, Clinical Pathology & Hematology, Microbiology, Clinical Pharmacology, and Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) in Pharmacology. The Clinical pathology/HematoIogy laboratory' may be shared between Physiology and Pathology, and Forensic Medicine may utilize the Histopathology & cytopathology laboratory' for practical work.
Histopathology and Microbiology laboratories shall in addition have gas/electric burners at each student's work station.
Each laboratory shall have additional rooms as required for technical staff, stores, equipment storage, etc. Each lab shall provide for at least 3.5 sq. m. per student, which shall be sufficient for work-benches, a delineated teaching area for 20 students, stores and room for technical staff. All the above-mentioned laboratories shall have audio-visual and internet facilities and be linked digitally to all other teaching areas i.e. lecture theatres, teaching rooms and museums.
Museum: There shall be at least 3 museums in the college, one (1) for Anatomy, one (1) to be shared by Pathology and Forensic Medicine, and one (1) to be shared by Pharmacology. Microbiology and Community Medicine. In addition to the display area, each of these museums shall also have sufficient space to seat at least 50 students (at least 1.2 sq. m. per student) and shall have audio-visual and internet facilities and be linked digitally to the Lecture theatres, teaching rooms and practical laboratories.
The museums shall have adequate racks and shelves for storing and proper display of wet and dry specimens (where applicable) and models. There shall also be adequate facilities for displaying and viewing radiological and digitalized images.
Skills Laboratory :
Every medical institution shall have a Skills Laboratory where students can practice and improve skills pre-specified in the curriculum. The purpose of the skills laboratory is to provide a safe and non-threatening environment for students to learn, practice and be observed performing skills in a simulated environment thus mitigating the risks involved in direct patient exposure without adequate preparation and supervision. The skills laboratory attempts to recreate the clinical environment and tasks which future health care workers have to perform with various levels of complexity and fidelity. Skills lab is only to prepare the student for clinical exposure. It shall not replace or be used for compensating any hands-on clinical training. Six (6) weeks of skills lab training including evaluation for six weeks before the students are posted to the wards for clinical training shall be preferable.
The skills laboratory' shall have a total area of at least 600 Sq.m for intake upto 150 MBBS students annually and 800 Sq.m for intakes of 200 and 250 MBBS students annually, and shall have-
- a minimum of 04 rooms for examination of patients or standardized/ simulated patients
- a room for demonstration of skills to small groups
- area for review or debriefing area
- rooms for faculty coordinator and support staff
- adequate space for storage of mannequins and/or other equipment
- facility for video recording and review of the interaction for teaching communication skills
- stations for practicing skills individually or in groups
- trainers or mannequins required to achieve skills outlined in the Competency Based Medical Education curriculum for Undergraduates
- a dedicated technical officer and adequate support staff
- the teaching areas of the skills lab shall have provision for audio-visual and internet facilities and shall be enabled for e-learning.
DEPARTMENT OFFICES, ROOMS FOR STAFF AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS
Every Teaching Department shall have:
1. room for Head of Department with Space for Department Office, for office staff and storage of records
2. rooms with adequate space for teaching faculty, and Tutors/Demonstrators/ Residents (both Junior & Senior)
3. rooms for faculty, provided with communication, computer and internet facilities.
4. rooms for non-teaching staff.
Medical Education Unit
There shall be a Medical Education Unit for faculty development and providing teaching or learning resource material. The Unit shall have provision for audio-visual and internet facilities. The requirements of this unit shall be as prescribed by the Undergraduate Medical Education Board of National Medical Commission from time to time (it shall have an area of at least 150-160 sq.m).
Research Facility:
A well- equipped research facility shall be available to be used by all departments.
Communication Facilities:
Adequate communication network between various sections of the college and hospitals shall be provided for better services, coordination and patient care.
Student Amenities:
Adequate student amenities shall be provided. These shall include facilities for common rooms for boys and girls (separate), cafeteria, cultural activities, Yoga training and practices, indoor games and student counselling services. There shall be gymnasium and playground for outdoor games and track events in the college.
Child Care Centre:
A Child Care Centre shall be established in the medical college with adequate facilities for taking care of the infants and the children of staff of the medical college and/or teaching hospital.
AADHAR ENABLED BIOMETRIC ATTENDANCE SYSTEM (AEBAS) & CLOSE CIRCUIT TV MONITORING OF MEDICAL COLLEGES / INSTITUTIONS AND HOSPITALS:
The medical college/ institution shall be responsible for the installation and maintenance of AEBAS, close circuit camera and HMIS and other Information Technology as prescribed from time to time.
AEBAS:
i) All Medical Colleges/Institutions shall install AEBAS to be linked to Command- and-Control center of NMC.
ii) The daily AEBAS along with face linked recognition, of the required staff (faculty, residents and supporting staff) shall be made available to NMC as well as on the Medical College Website in the form of daily attendance dashboard.
Minimum requirement of attendance:
It shall be mandatory to have at least 75% attendance of the total working days (excluding vacations) for all faculty and resident doctors. During vacation period, other than sick leave or leaves availed due to emergency situations, the faculty on duty shall not be availing any leave. Emergency leaves shall be certified by Head of the department or Head of the institution.
Close Circuit Camera:
Every medical college shall have prescribed number and location of cameras with Close-Circuit Television (CCTV) system in the medical college and shall provide live streaming of classroom teaching, patient care in the teaching hospital and any other area as specified from to time (Annexure I), to enable the Commission to maintain a constant vigil on the standard of medical education/ training being imparted.
The live streaming of both classroom teaching and hospital, shall be integrated as a part of the "Digital Mission Mode Project" (DMMP) of the Commission.
a) College Website:
1) Every college /institute shall have its own website which shall contain the details mentioned in (Annexure II), to be updated in the first week of every month.
2) There shall be a separate dynamic dashboard for the hospital including details of clinical material in the hospital (OPD and IPD) (Annexure III).
BIOMEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT
The Medical Institution must ensure compliance with the Bio-medical Waste (Management & Handing) Rules, 2019 and as notified from time to time. They shall have a robust institutional policy on biomedical waste management of human origin, with a well- defined arrangement for segregation and discarding of biomedical waste. Facilities for biomedical waste management shall be commensurate with the Central/State legislations.
Registration at state level shall be made with registration certificate & receipt of fee paid should be available. Provision for Fire-safety & PWD-friendly arrangements must be established. Power management with evidence of use of amount must be available as and when required for assessment of facilities. This shall be under the direct supervision of Superintendent/ Head of the Institute in close coordination with Department of Microbiology.
Apart from these, these draft regulations also include department-specific requirements of equipment and other requirements in various departments such as Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, pathology including the requirements for the blood bank, microbiology including the Hospital Infection Control Committee, Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Community Medicine including the Rural Health Training Centre, Pharmacology etc.
The draft also discussed about hostels for students/ interns, teaching hospital, department specific requirements indoor such as operation theatre, central sterilisation services, laundry, requirements for the Department of Radio-Dialognosis, Anesthesiology, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. It also addresses issues such as outdoor requirements such as Central Laboratory, Emergency Medicine Department, Central Hospital Pharmacy, central kitchen, electricity, sanitation and water supply etc.
Apart from this issues such as Space for Clinical Teaching Departments, Teaching faculty and Residents, teaching rooms, outpatient area, Indoor beds, details regarding department of emergency medicine, radio-diagnosis, physical medicine and rehabilitation, yoga, radio-oncology, and anti-retroviral therapy (ART) centre etc have also been discussed in the draft regulations.
Further, the regulations include issues like staff requirements, central workshop, teaching hospital, department wise non-clinical staff requirements, staff requirement in phase 3 departments, staff requirement for ancillary services, equipment for various departments in the college and hospitals, built up area requirements, faculty requirement for MBBS admissions etc.
These draft regulations also include guidelines for AEBAS in medical colleges and they have also referred to previously issued NMC advisories directing the medical colleges to install cameras in medical colleges. The draft also includes a proforma for display of information on the medical college website, details of Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) Integration with NMC Dashboard, API specification for data syncing with NMC Dashboard, user manual for NEXTGen eHospital Configuration, and user manual for NEXTGen eHospital OPD Registration.
To view the complete regulations, click on the link below:
