In a bid to ensure that an adequate supply of primary care physicians practice in rural areas, the MCI is mulling over to make the “extended duration” of MBBS course attractive with handsome perks to be given to the doctors.
Three months after it was proposed to extend the duration of MBBS course by a year, including compulsory rural posting, the experts are working on to make the additional year striking by including huge salaries and perks for doctors so that the doctors feel motivated and the course is accepted by the medical fraternity. A committee of experts has been constituted by the MCI to work on it. Dr K.K. Talwar, head of MCI board said that the MCI is likely to send the final proposal by this week.
The move is set to increase the existing MBBS course of five and half years to six and half years. Once the final proposal is approved by the ministry, it will require amendment in the regulation — the minimum standard requirement 1999. “Under that regulation at present the duration of internship is period of one year in which three months duration is in rural areas and the rest of the nine months is in the hospital attached to a medical college,” said a senior official in the ministry.
It has been proposed to increase the duration of internship to made two years in which the second year will be compulsory in the rural areas.
The move, officials say has been aimed at meeting the shortage of doctors in rural areas, “This will take care of the long standing concern of the government to provide adequate health services in rural areas”.
While, a similar proposal — to increase the duration of MBBS course and compulsory rural posting was earlier too mooted by the then Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss. The proposal could never see the light of the day as it received a stiff resistance from the medical fraternity and various elected bodies.