6-month rural stint may soon be a must for MBBS degree
Kounteya Sinha TNN
New Delhi: It might soon be binding on undergraduate medical students to serve a rural posting for six months to get their MBBS degree. Medical Council of India (MCI) recently presented the proposal to the health ministry.
At present, an MBBS course of 5.5 years includes one year of internship. However, most medical students end up practising in urban settings, refusing to serve the country’s rural population.
MCI has suggested that a six-month rural posting (serving in a primary or a community health centre) should be made a compulsory part of the curriculum of the country’s undergraduate medical education. Students can spend the other half of the year interning in an urban setting.
MCI chairman Dr K K Talwar told TOI that the proposal was presented to the health secretary recently. “We are presently fine-tuning the proposal which will ultimately be notified by the health ministry. A six-month rural posting will become mandatory,” Dr Talwar said. An official said the health ministry and MCI were close to reaching a consensus. “Getting a medical student to practise for one whole year in a rural setting was difficult. So we are breaking it into six months each of urban and rural internship,” an official said.
At present, an MBBS course of 5.5 years includes one year of internship. However, most medical students end up practising in urban settings, refusing to serve the country’s rural population.
MCI has suggested that a six-month rural posting (serving in a primary or a community health centre) should be made a compulsory part of the curriculum of the country’s undergraduate medical education. Students can spend the other half of the year interning in an urban setting.
MCI chairman Dr K K Talwar told TOI that the proposal was presented to the health secretary recently. “We are presently fine-tuning the proposal which will ultimately be notified by the health ministry. A six-month rural posting will become mandatory,” Dr Talwar said. An official said the health ministry and MCI were close to reaching a consensus. “Getting a medical student to practise for one whole year in a rural setting was difficult. So we are breaking it into six months each of urban and rural internship,” an official said.
Source:::: The Times of India, 03-09-2012, p.09. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW
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