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Faculty Shortage: NMC plans to rope in Retired Army, Railway Doctors to teach specialised curriculum

New Delhi: Aiming to tackle the shortage of faculties in medical colleges, the National Medical Commission (NMC) is reportedly planning to fill up the vacant faculty positions with retired doctors from the army and the railways, Mint has reported.
NMC's decision to utilise the former army and railway doctors to deal with faculty shortage comes in the backdrop of the Economic Survey highlighting faculty shortages, which are affecting the quality of medical training.
The Commission is considering filling at least 700 such vacant positions across government institutes. These teaching faculties- retired doctors from the armed forces, railways, and Employees' State Insurance Corporation, will teach specialised curriculum in the post-graduate courses.
As part of the plan, NMC has already released the draft Teachers Eligibility Qualifications (TEQ) in the Medical Institutions Regulations, 2024 and asked stakeholders to submit their suggestions on that.
Also Read: More Than Half of Faculty Posts Vacant in Punjab Medical Colleges: CAG Report
Commenting on this, an official told Mint, "TEQ will beneÂfit at least 600-700 seats across govÂernÂment instiÂtuÂtions. This will improve patient care and recruit meritorious facÂulty. However, the TEQ proÂposal is with the health minÂistry for furÂther delibÂerÂaÂtions and is delayed." Further, the official said that the delay is also affecting the potential increase of PG seats in the country.
"SpeÂcialÂist medÂical officer of the Armed Forces havÂing minÂimum 8 years teachÂing experÂiÂence after obtainÂing the requisÂite recogÂnized PostÂgraduÂate qualÂiÂficÂaÂtion in the subÂject, of which at last three years as AssoÂciate ProÂfessor in a teachÂing hosÂpital of the Armed Forces, with two Research pubÂlicÂaÂtions under the relÂevÂant proÂviÂsions can be conÂsidered eliÂgible for appointÂment as ProÂfessor in the conÂcerned subÂject," the official mentioned, further adding that the similar provisions are being made in the case of returned doctors from railways and ESIC.
As per the recent data released by the National Medical Commission (NMC) on April 1st, there are 74,306 postÂgraduÂate seats and 118,190 MBBS seats in the counÂtry. This indicates that there is a significant shortage of specialists in cardiology, neurology, oncology and surgery. Till July 2024, NMC documented that the country had 13.8 lakh medical practitioners having an MBBS degree. Therefore, there is one MBBS degree holder per 1,263 people.
Commenting on the development of the faculty recruitment, a second official told Mint, "Until the TEQ is not passed by the govÂernÂment, facÂulty recruitÂment canÂnot hapÂpen and it is delayÂing the proÂcess."
The official further added that the recruitment of faculty members is a huge process as the government has to provide designations like professor, assistant professor and association professor. "Without the desÂigÂnaÂtions, these facÂulty canÂnot work in the medÂical colÂleges," added the official.
Barsha completed her Master's in English from the University of Burdwan, West Bengal in 2018. Having a knack for Journalism she joined Medical Dialogues back in 2020. She mainly covers news about medico legal cases, NMC/DCI updates, medical education issues including the latest updates about medical and dental colleges in India. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.