What after transition period? Medical MSc Degree Teachers decry NMC Draft TEQ Rules

New Delhi: Expressing their disappointment over the newly released Draft Teachers Eligibility Qualifications 2024, including the definition of "transition period" and making PhD mandatory for non-medical teachers to be allowed to teach in medical colleges, the Medical MSc Degree teachers have urged the National Medical Commission (NMC) to reverse these proposed regulations.

Speaking to Medical Dialogues about the matter, the Secretary of the National MSc Medical Teachers' Association (NMMTA), Dr. Ayan Das said that NMC should re-implement the 1998 regulations which were "balanced" and which did not exclude the Medical MSc Degree teachers from the pool of faculties for the medical colleges.

Calling the new Draft "absurd" that excluded "Microbiology" and "Pharmacology" from the list of specialties that Medical MSc Degree teachers are allowed to teach, he also questioned, "What is this transitional period? What is the time frame? What will happen to us when the transitional period is over?... Who will define it?.. This is just playing with our lives."

"When the finance minister is saying that they are planning to increase the MBBS seats by 75,000 or something in the next five years and when they are saying they are going to open more colleges, from where are they going to find faculties if you keep the capable workforce out?"

He also pointed out that to replenish the faculty shortage, the authorities have devised the idea of cutting the cut-off marks in NEET PG to zero percentile and claimed that it was hypocrisy on the behalf of the authorities not to worry about the quality of medical education in any other aspect but only when including the Medical MSc Degree teachers in the faculty pool.

"The older regulations did not provide us with any reservation and it only allowed us to appear in the interview," he explained, adding that this draft will only degrade the quality of medical education.

"The 1998 regulations which were going till 2020 were well-structured and balanced. These new regulations are discriminatory as well as arbitrary," he added. Another thing that Dr. Das pointed out is that NMC has denied to address their concerns while pointing out that the matter was still sub-judice. In this regard, he questioned if the matter is sub-judice, and how are the authorities introducing new regulations time and again.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that releasing the Draft TEQ 2024 Regulations, NMC specified that the non-medical teachers could work as senior residents and faculties in medical colleges to teach three subjects including Anatomy, Biochemistry, and Physiology. However, it also specified that to teach these subjects in medical colleges, it is mandatory for the non-medical colleges to have an MSc and PhD degrees in these specialities.

Also Read: NMC proposes changes in TEQ regulations- here's how doctors, non-medical teachers react

Further, NMC also clarified in the Draft TEQ 2024 that the teachers with Medical MSc Degrees would be eligible for appointment as Senior Residents and Faculties (Assistant Professor and beyond) to teach these Broad specialty subjects during the "transitional period".

Defining the "transition period", NMC has mentioned in the Draft that in a speciality (subject) if enough faculty having qualifications of that speciality are not available, one with related qualifications and training/experience is made eligible to become faculty of that speciality for limited period till adequate number of faculty with qualification of such speciality are available. NMC has specified that this limited period is called a "transition period" and conditions required to be fulfilled for his will be called transition period criteria.

The Commission has also mentioned that NMC will decide the duration of the transition period based on the recommendations by the Post Graduate Medical Educational Board (PGMEB).

However, referring to the term "transitional period", the teachers with Medical MSc Degrees have questioned what would happen to them after the transitional period ends.

Issuing a Press Release, NMMTA highlighted that the teachers with Medical M.Sc.PhD degree have been working in medical colleges for the last 70 years and it is not a new phenomenon.

The association also pointed out that the Medical M.Sc graduates earn the "Faculty of Modern Medicine" degree only in five non-clinical subjects i.e. Anatomy, Biochemistry, Physiology, Microbiology and Pharmacology.

"They study a curriculum nearly identical to that of their MD counterparts and are taught by the same faculty. Most of them also pursue a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) to advance research in the field of medicine," the release mentioned, while further highlighting that in the USA and other western countries, the number of M.Sc/PhD teachers for these subjects in medical colleges are nearly 8 times more than the MD teachers.

The association further pointed out that the faculty with M.Sc. and PhD qualifications often have specialized knowledge and research experience and how they teach at all prestigious institutes like AIIMS New Delhi, PGI Chandigarh, JIPMER, CMC Vellore, SGPGI Lucknow etc. and how they lead medical research in basic subjects, publishing thousands of research articles in national and international journals.

"Medical M.Sc/PhD degree holders form the core faculty for the five basic subjects in medical colleges in tier-2 and tier-3 cities and rural areas, where fewer individuals are willing to work. They receiving lower salaries than their MD counterparts and lacking opportunities for private practice, which many MBBS and MD holders pursue," further highlighted the association.

NMMTA pointed out that until 2020, the intake of Medical MSc and PhD teachers was allowed up to 30% of capacity per subject (50% in biochemistry). In this regard, the association argued that previously as well, the Medical MSc Degree teachers were not given any reservation of any kind and they were only offered limited opportunities to participate in the selection process.

However, NMC in October 2020, reduced the permissible percentage of Medical MSc/PhD faculty in subjects like Anatomy, Biochemistry, and Physiology from 30% to 15%, while in Microbiology and Pharmacology, it was decreased to zero percent.

Calling the move "unjustified" and "arbitrary", the association mentioned in the release that "Due to these changes, medical M.Sc. and PhD faculties have faced significant hardships, with many losing their jobs. Newly graduated postgraduate students have also been denied job opportunities, leading to a bleak future and a career dead end."

Also Read: NMC Releases Draft TEQ Regulations 2024, Check details

Even though previously NMMTA had appealed to NMC to take back the regulations, the Commission had denied any relief. Thereafter, NMMTA had filed a case against the new regulations in the Delhi High Court in November 2020, which is still pending.

Thereafter, they approached the Union Health Ministry, which instructed NMC to revert to the previous regulations. However, NMMTA pointed out that this instruction by the Ministry has not been implemented yet and argued that the regulations to decrease the percentage of Medical MSc and PhD teachers has exacerbated the faculty shortage even further.

"In a knee jerk reaction to increase teachers in these 5 subjects, the NEET PG cut-off has been lowered to zero percentile, allowing extremely low-ranking MBBS graduates to enroll in MD/MS in the five basic science subjects. this will actually compromise the quality of medical post graduates...Rather than giving opportunity to qualified Medical M.Sc/ PhD professionals to teach, the Government and NMC is hell bent to increase the pool of “Non-treating doctors” when the country has huge shortage of treating doctors. Moreover, the rural areas often have a much lower doctor-patient ratio than urban areas, leading to disparities in access to healthcare," NMMTA mentioned in the release.

"NMMTA strongly advocates that instead of decreasing the permissible percentage of Medical M.Sc. and PhD faculty, the government and the National Medical Commission (NMC) should increase their representation, similar to practices in Western countries," it added.