7 day AYUSH Training for MBBS Medicos NOT mandatory: Health minister informs Parliament

"This part is not mandatory, but elective. The students may choose any elective, provided the discipline is available in the same college / Institution where Internship is being done (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy, Sowa Rigpa)," Minister of Health, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar has informed the Parliament on Friday.

"The rationale behind including this elective is to providing exposure of Ayush disciplines to MBBS students," further stated the MoS Health.

Minister Pawar was replying to a series of questions in Lok Sabha related to the rotational internship training for medical students. Shri Asaduddin Owaisi, a member of the Parliament sought to know whether the draft guidelines by the National Medical Commission (NMC) has made it mandatory for the MBBS students to undergo training in AYUSH during compulsory rotation internship 2021.

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Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that in the recently released Draft Regulations for MBBS Compulsory Rotational Internship, the NMC had included a portion of the internship in areas of Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Homeopathy, Siddha and Sowa-Rigpa as a part of options where an MBBS medico can intern.

It had been mentioned by NMC that the medicos will have to spend 7 days in one of the departments of ISM and may choose any of the given electives, provided the discipline is available in the same College/ Institution where the Internship is done.

Also Read: MBBS medicos should be allowed to choose institutes for internship: FORDA writes to NMC

However, when NMC asked for suggestions and comments, several doctors' associations including IMA, FORDA, FAIMA, and member of NMC questioned the inclusion of AYUSH Elective and even wrote about it to the Apex Medical Education Regulatory body.

Expressing its concern that exposure in another system of medicine for the one-week period is likely to pave the way to a "half-baked mixopath," the letter by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) had stated that the results of such inclusions would be "disastrous for the country".

Also Read: Give uniform stipend, working conditions for all MBBS interns across the country: IMA to NMC

When the matter came up for discussion in Lok Sabha on Friday, MoS Health Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar stated, "The National Medical Commission (NMC) has informed that they have released draft Regulations on Compulsory Rotating Internship for inviting public comments. These draft Regulations have a provision of one week internship in electives exclusive for Indian Systems of Medicine. This part is not mandatory, but elective. The students may choose any elective, provided the discipline is available in the same college / Institution where Internship is being done (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy, Sowa Rigpa)."

"The rationale behind including this elective is to providing exposure of Ayush disciplines to MBBS students," further added the Minister.

While addressing the question whether the similar kind of mandatory training in Allopathic system of Medicines has been made applied to the AYUSH students as well, Minister Pawar stated, "The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) has informed that as per the Indian Medicine Central Council (Minimum Standards of Education in Indian Medicine), Amendment Regulation, 2016, one-year internship programme for BAMS students is divided into clinical training of six months in the Ayush hospital attached to the college and six months in Primary Health Centre or Community Health Centre or Rural Hospital or District Hospital or Civil Hospital or any Government Hospital of modern medicine."

"It also provides that where there is no provision or permission of the State Government for allowing the graduate of Ayush in the hospital or dispensary of Modern Medicine, the one-year Internship shall be completed in the hospital of AYUSH college."