IIT Kharagpur seeks NMC approval to launch first PG medical programme

KOLKATA: IIT Kharagpur has filed an application with the National Medical Council to introduce a postgraduate doctor of medicine (MD) course, institute director Suman Chakraborty said on Saturday. If the proposal gets the Centre's approval, it would be the first IIT to offer a postgraduate medical programme.

"With the deadline for filing the application being March 31, we have initiated the formal process seeking NMC's approval. Let's wait for the response of the ministry concerned," Chakraborty told PTI. The proposed postgraduate programme will start with 20 seats.

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Chakraborty said while the ministry of education has backed the proposal, the final decision rests with the ministry of health and family welfare as "it is an inter-ministerial decision".

"We have already appointed 20 doctors for teaching students in the MD programme," he said. Chakraborty did not wish to give a specific time-frame for the proposal "as everything depends on the response of the NMC". The plan had been first submitted before the institute's board of governors for approval on September 23, 2025.

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Admissions through NEET

Another senior institute official said students will be trained at the healthcare facilities of Dr B C Roy Multi Specialty Medical Research Centre and Syama Prasad Mookerjee Super Speciality Hospital. Students will be selected through the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the official said.

Chakraborty said the Syama Prasad hospital is set to expand into a 220-bed mission-mode IPD hospital, providing advanced healthcare to students, faculty, staff and the wider community.