Non-Medical Teachers Meet Health Minister Nadda, Urge to Address ‘unfair disqualification’ due to NMC Regulations
New Delhi: Raising their concerns regarding the impact of the National Medical Commission’s regulations for MSc and PhD medical instructors, a delegation of non-medical teachers met the Union Health Minister J P Nadda recently and sought his intervention.
The representatives from the National MSc Medical Teachers Association (NMMTA) claimed that the NMC regulations led to a significant shortage of staff in medical colleges and affected the quality of education and training provided to future healthcare professionals.
For a long time, NMMTA has been protesting against the NMC rules and regulations, through which, the Commission reduced the total number of posts available in medical colleges for non-medical teachers. Further, the Commission released CBME 2023 guidelines last year and excluded the non-medical teachers as MBBS examiners.
Also Read: NMMTA moves Health Ministry, Demands Separate Council for Non-Medical Teachers
As per the latest media report by the Times of India, meeting the Union Health Minister, Dr. Arjun Maitra and Dr. Ayan Das, the President and Secretary of NMMTA highlighted the discrimination faced by the non medical teachers due to the current NMC policies and claimed that many association members have been forced to resort to costly, time-consuming legal interventions to navigate the challenges posed by these rules.
Acknowledging their concerns, the Union Health Minister urged the Joint Secretary of Medical Education to compile a comprehensive report detailing the challenges faced by the medical colleges.
Meanwhile, Dr. Maitra urged NMC to reconsidering the regulations and said, “The continued reliance on legal measures undermines our primary goal of nurturing future healthcare professionals. We believe that with the ministry’s support, we can create a more equitable framework that values the contributions of all educators.”
“We urge @MoHFW_INDIA to address the unfair disqualification of MSc./Ph.D. teachers from serving as undergraduate examiners under NMC regulations. Despite court rulings, many universities continue to deny qualified teachers with years of experience their rightful roles. Over 3,000 dedicated educators, some with decades of service, are affected. Please intervene and direct NMC to amend the GMER guidelines to ensure that all teachers with 3+ years of experience in medical colleges can be appointed as examiners,” the association wrote in a X (formerly Twitter) post.
During their meeting with the Health Minister, NMMTA presented Nadda with a copy of their inaugural newsletter, which outlines the commitment of the association to excel in medical education and showcase various initiatives undertaken by NMMTA members.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported about NMC’s “Guidelines for Under Graduate Courses under Establishment of New Medical Institutions, Starting of New Medical Courses, Increase of Seats for Existing Courses & Assessment and Rating Regulations, 2023”, which was released in August last year. Releasing the concerned guidelines, NMC clarified that only 15% of the total number of posts in Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry departments would be filled by the non-medical teachers.
“In department of Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, non-medical teachers may be appointed to the extent of 15% of the total number of posts in the department subject to non-availability of medical teachers. The above mentioned non-medical teachers and the Statistician in the department of Community Medicine should possess qualification in that particular subject from a recognised University as per requirements in Teacher Eligibility Qualification Regulations,” NMC had mentioned in the regulations.
Further, the Competency-Based Medical Education Curriculum (CBME) Regulations 2023, which came into effect on August 1, 2023, excluded the non-medical teachers altogether as the examiners for the undergraduate medical examinations.
“Person appointed as an examiner in the particular subject must have at least four years of total teaching experience as Assistant Professor after obtaining postgraduate degree following MBBS, in the subject in a college affiliated to a recognized medical college (by UGMEB of NMC),” the new CBME Regulations stated.
Apart from seeking legal remedies, NMMTA had earlier staged protest to voice their concerns regarding these rules. Earlier, the association had also called for a co-existence with the medical teachers.
Also Read: Karnataka High Court stays implementation of NMC UG MSR 2023 guidelines
