Got Doubts regarding District Residency Programme? Check out the clarification issued by NMC
New Delhi: Addressing the doubts regarding implementation of District Residency Programme for the Postgraduate medical students of broad specialty, the Post Graduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) of National Medical Commission (NMC) has now issued clarification in this regard.
The Apex medical commission board has clarified that the three months District Residency Programme is mandatory for all the students admitted in the 2021 batch onwards- even for the students belonging to private medical colleges and deemed universities.
Apart from this, the NMC board has also clarified regarding the doubts concerning the process of accommodating students in case the District Hospitals are located far away, the clarity regarding who shall guide the students during their district residency, if the students can be posted in District Hospitals which have recently been converted to medical colleges offering only MBBS classes and many other queries.
The District Residency Programme had been proposed by NMC back in 2021 with an aim of "strengthening of services of the District Health System". Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that NMC had mentioned about the programme at the District Hospitals in the Draft Regulations on Postgraduate Medical Education.
It was proposed that all the PG medical students pursuing their MD/MS in broad specialities should undergo a compulsory residential rotation of three months in District Hospitals/ District Health System as a part of the course curriculum.
Such rotation shall take place in the 3rd or 4th or 5th semester of the Postgraduate programme, the new NMC Draft Regulations spelt out. This rotation shall be termed as 'District Residency Programme' (DRP) and the postgraduate medical student undergoing training shall be termed as a 'District Resident'.
Recently, writing to the Deans and Principals of all the medical colleges and the Directors of Medical Education (DME) of the country, the NMC PG Board mentioned how the District Residency Programme could not be properly implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic and consequently made it mandatory for all the Postgraduate broad speciality students admitted in 2021 batch onwards.
However, there were some confusions regarding the implementation of the programme. Addressing such doubts, NMC PG Medical Education Board has now written to the Principal Secretary/ Secretary of Medical Education of all the States/UTs, the Directors of all the State/UT DMEs, and the Heads of all the medical institutes.
In this regard, NMC mentioned in the the letter dated January 19, 2023, "Provisions for three months District Residency Programme (DRP) in district health system for PG students of broad specialty have been incorporated in the Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations 2000 (PGMER-2000) vide notification dated 16.09.2020. Consequent upon meeting with representatives of different states for implementation of the programme, clarifications have been sought by them on certain issues faced by them. The doubts raised by the various stakeholders have been duly examined and point-wise clarifications have accordingly been indicated in the Annexure."
"The DRP should be strictly implemented in keeping with Notification dated 16.09.2020 read with the aforesaid clarifications (Annexure). All concerned are requested to take action accordingly," further mentioned the letter issued by the Deputy Secretary of PGMEB, Aujender Singh.
ANNEXURE
| Sl. No. | Point of Doubt | Clarification |
| 1. | From which batch DRP is to be implemented? | DRP is mandatory for all the students admitted in 2021 batch onwards. |
| 2. | Is DRP mandatory for students of private medical colleges and deemed universities? | DRP is also mandatory for students admitted in private medical colleges and deemed universities. |
| 3. | If the number of District Hospitals are less to accommodate the number of PG students available, can they be posted in Community Health Centres having 100 or more than 50 beds? | For the purpose of this programme, a District Hospital shall be a functional public sector/government-funded hospital of not less than 100 beds with facilities/staff for the designated specialities at that level / facility. For the purpose of this programme, the District Health System shall also include all public sector/government-funded hospitals and facilities (including community health centres, primary health centres, sub health centres, urban health centres etc.), as well as community outreach system in a district. This would also include district system engaged in running respective public health services including the implementation of national and state public health programmes. |
| 4. | How to accommodate students when the District Hospitals are quite far away? | The State Government shall provide appropriate amenities to the District Residents, including, amongst others, suitable accommodation, transportation to workplace (if living quarters are faraway), security, especially for lady residents. Accommodation could be by means of government premises or that rented by concerned State Govt. and should conform to prescribe norms. |
| 5. | Whether the PG students can be posted in the District Hospital in those specialty where that specialty department exists but specialized Doctors are not available in the District Hospitals. If yes, in such situation who will guide the PG students during their district residency under DRP? | During this rotation, the District Resident will be posted with the concerned/aligned specialty team/unit at the District Hospital, and will be trained under the overall guidance of the District Specialists. The District Resident will work under the overall directions and supervision of the District Residency Programme Coordinator (DRPC). The clinical responsibilities assigned to the Residents would include serving in outpatient, inpatient, casualty and other areas, and encompass night duties. |
| S. No. | Point of Doubt | Clarification |
| | Can students of other medical colleges be deputed in the District Hospitals where medical colleges are already linked to these District Hospitals? | Yes, provided that training is periodically monitored and is comparable to the PG training in a medical college hospital. |
| | Can the PG students be posted for DRP in those District Hospitals which have been recently converted to the medical colleges for imparting only MBBS Courses? |
To view the NMC notice, click on the link below:
