PhD now mandatory with MSc degree to apply for post of Demonstrator in Medical College
New Delhi: In the recently released Guidelines for Under Graduate Courses under Establishment of New Medical Institutions, Starting of New Medical Courses, Increase of Seats for Existing Courses & Assessment and Rating Regulations, 2023, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has stated that for being appointed in the post of Demonstrators, PhD degree will be required in case of MSc postgraduates.
NMC in the new guidelines, which were published in the official Gazette on August 16, 2023, and became enforceable from the same date, mentioned, "Senior Resident Doctors (SRs) shall be postgraduate candidates of the corresponding specialty or department. Tutors shall be MBBS candidates. Demonstrators shall be postgraduates with PhD in the subject to be appointed, and not having qualifications of MBBS."
Further, in respect of appointment of the non-medical teachers in the medical colleges, the new guidelines stated, "In department of Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, non-medical teachers may be appointed to the extent of 15% of the total number of posts in the department subject to non-availability of medical teachers. The above mentioned non-medical teachers and the Statistician in the department of Community Medicine should possess qualification in that particular subject from a recognised University as per requirements in Teacher Eligibility Qualification Regulations."
Speaking to Medical Dialogues in this regard, the General Secretary of the National M.Sc Medical Teachers' Association (NMMTA), Dr. Ayan Das termed these new rules as discriminatory. He said, "They have now made it mandatory Ph.D. even to become a demonstrator. While only an MBBS degree holder can be a Tutor, a non-MBBS person needs to have a Ph.D. to be a demonstrator. So, they have downgraded the highest degree in the world to an undergraduate degree by equating them."
"A tutor can be an MBBS person and we have no objection to that. Earlier, it was not mandatory for non-medical persons to have a Ph.D. degree to be a demonstrator. Even as per the UGC guidelines, Ph.D. is not even required to be an assistant professor at this point. This is just to bully the next generations that are passing out right now and making it hard to join a medical college," he further added.
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