Centre seeks alliance of government, private medical colleges for topnotch education

Govt is committed to ensuring the best medical colleges and medical education, said Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya.

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya interacted with around 150 representatives of private medical colleges in the presence of Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, at Vigyan Bhawan.

On the occasion, he said, "the aspiration and vision of Govt for medical education reform can be fulfilled only when the Medical Colleges are active partners. To create this atmosphere, consultation and samvaad is very important. There is a need to create an eco-system & environment where NMC and Medical Colleges share a goal for superior quality medical education."

He sought the partnership of NMC and medical colleges for strong medical education and cautioned those who do not share the vision of providing superior medical education. He also suggested reforms like biometrics attendance in medical institutions.

Dr Mansukh Mandaviya gave a strong message that the Govt is committed to ensuring the best medical colleges and medical education. He informed that the government has increased the number of medical colleges to 648 from 387 medical colleges in 2014.

Various initiatives taken by NMC for reforming medical education at the UG level were presented to the participants. This included steps for equal distribution of colleges following Prime Minister's vision of "One District, One Medical College"; introduction of yoga module; village outreach through Family Adoption Program; medical education in bilingual languages; anti-raging cells; academic calendar for 2022-23 batch.

Mansukh Mandaviya discussed various issues related to medical education 

The issues discussed regarding Medical Assessment Rating Board covered themes such as recognition of backlogs and clearing renewals, reduction in a mismatch between assessor and speciality, friction-free assessments; assessment in a window period or timeframe, feasibility of skill labs to compensate fewer clinical load, concerns regarding crowding by medical colleges in some areas, availability of teachers in pre and para-clinical courses, face recognition and Aadhar Enabled Biometric System (AEBMS), increase in the validity period of recognition etc. Dr Mandaviya encouraged the Academy and researchers to collaborate with the private sector in research and innovation. 

During the 'Samvaad' which lasted for nearly two hours, representatives from private medical colleges raised issues and proffered suggestions related to NEET PG, NEXTT, admissions, the retirement age of faculty, journal publications, bond for rural posting, district residency programs, super speciality courses, an internship in community medicine, less faculty in some streams such as forensics, etc.

Read more:

• Mansukh Mandaviya asserts Centre's commitment towards quality medical education
• Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya inaugurates ABDM services at AIIMS Bibinagar