NMC to modify CBME curriculum for LGBTQIA+ community

The National Medical Commission is all set to modify the Competency-Based Medical Curriculum to address and include issues faced by the LGBTQ community in India.

National Medical Commission (NMC) has issued many recommendations made by an expert committee which was formed to assess the inclusivity of the LGBTQIA community and their issues in medical education. 

The commission has recommended modifications to the Competency-Based Medical Education, CBME Curriculum.

NMC has written to the Principal/Dean, Register and Director of medical colleges to address the issues related to LGBTQIA+ Community. The Expert Committee, after detailed discussion and deliberation, recommended making modifications to the Competency-Based Medical Education Curriculum.

One of the significant recommendations has been made in the competencies of Forensic Medicine and Psychiatric medicine. For instance, in the psychiatric competency, the topic name "Psychosexual and gender identity disorders" will be changed to "Human sexuality, gender incongruence or gender dysphoria; gender non-conformity, differences of sex development, intersex, paraphilia and paraphilic disorders and sexual dysfunctions".

One more recommendation is to describe and understand how to discuss sexual orientation, sexuality identity, gender identity, as well as intersex identity (differences in sex development) as part of routine history taking. Moreover, NMC has advised demonstrating the ability to assess the gender identity of an individual and distress caused (if any) due to an individual's own gender identity in a simulated environment. 

Last year also, the commission has issued advisory for medical universities, colleges and institutions, which suggested that they must ensure that the scientific course books are not biased against the LGBTQIA (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) + community and do not contain any derogatory comments.

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