Why NMC bid to expand medical faculty pool is drawing fire from both doctors, non-medical postgraduates

NEW DELHI: In a new draft regulation on teachers’ eligibility at medical institutions, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has proposed allowing non-teaching consultants, specialists and medical officers to become assistant and associate professors, provided they have worked for at least four and 10 years, respectively, in a minimum 220-bedded government-run hospital.

The document continues to allow non-medical postgraduates to teach anatomy, physiology and biochemistry at medical colleges, though this provision has been restricted to a 'transitional' period when a sufficient quantity of qualified teaching candidates for the respective subjects are not available.

But this has drawn major pushback from both doctors and non-medical postgraduates.

In comparison to relaxed norms for consultants and specialists, the proposed regular qualifications for the post of assistant professor include completing a year of senior residency, while the candidates for associate professorship are required to have worked as an assistant professor for four years and have published two research papers.

While the pathway to become a faculty at all three levels – assistant professor, associate professor and professor – had been available to consultants and specialists at the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) hospitals since 2012, the existing norms, brought in 2022, restricted it as a one-time relaxation for only those government hospitals that are being converted into medical colleges and stand-alone postgraduate institutes, and only for the post of assistant professor.

NMC draft rules: Part-time teachers, visiting faculty

The NMC draft rules , which have been released for public feedback, may also allow colleges to hire more part-time teachers.

A provision on recruiting teachers from abroad for postgraduate students as 'visiting faculty' in 2022 rules no longer limits part-timers to international faculty. While the existing regulations clearly mention that the visiting faculty have to be 'over and above' the minimum faculty requirement, the new language merely qualifies the part-time faculty as 'additional'.

According to experts, the changes seem to be aimed at increasing the pool of teachers for the fast-growing number of medical colleges across the country.

" Facing a shortage of teachers , the Medical Council of India [National Medical Commission's predecessor body] had allowed hiring experienced doctors as faculty members in medical colleges. But once there were enough teachers, this practice was restricted. However, with medical colleges opening in every nook and cranny, there's once again a paucity of qualified teachers, especially in certain super specialties such as marine medicine," said Pravin Shingare, former director of medical education in Maharashtra.

Also read NMC starts process for new medical colleges; Rs 15 crore for 50 MBBS seats

Avinash Supe, Professor Emeritus at Seth GS Medical College, Mumbai, who also served as the state medical education director, said, "I believe that these are temporary measures to create a larger chunk of teachers. Once we have a sufficient number of faculty, I imagine the rules to once again become more stringent."

MSc, PhD holders eligible for senior residency

The new regulations also seek to amend the definitions of tutor, demonstrator and senior residents working at medical colleges. While the current norms describe a senior resident as someone with a postgraduate medical degree, the new rules make MSc and PhD holders in anatomy, physiology and biochemistry also eligible for senior residency.

The 2022 rules had clubbed tutors and demonstrators under the nomenclature of 'tutor', defining them as those with non-medical postgraduate degrees. However, the centre now proposes to once again treat them as distinct positions, with tutors required to hold MBBS degrees.

NMC draft rules on teacher recruitment draw flak

The draft rules have caused resentment among both medical and non-medical postgraduates. While the former criticised persisting with MSc and PhD holders as faculty members in medical colleges and opening the doors of senior residency to them, the latter have objected to subjecting their appointments to the availability of doctors.

"What's the purpose of having a transition period when there are so many doctors available for teaching jobs? Non-medical teachers are bringing down the quality of education at medical colleges. There are some who are working as guides for postgraduate students," said Bharat Pareek, a senior resident at SMS College, Jaipur, and Rajasthan state president of United Doctors Front (UDF).

UDF has written to NMC, seeking to restrict the senior residency programme to only medical graduates. The organisation has also demanded to limit the non-medical teachers in anatomy, physiology and biochemistry departments to 10% of total faculty strength and restricting them from becoming PG guides or examiners.

While the 1998 regulations on teachers' qualification, which were in force until 2022, allowed for up to 30% non-medical teachers in anatomy, microbiology, pharmacology and physiology departments and a maximum of 50% faculty in biochemistry department, a 2020 regulation brought the proportion down to 15% for anatomy, physiology and biochemistry, with no provision at all for MSc and PhD holders in pharmacology and microbiology departments.

Also read ‘Gross negligence’: NMC’s new MBBS curriculum guidelines can harm 3.6 crore Indians

Ayan Kumar Das, assistant professor at Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, New Delhi, and general secretary of the National MSc Medical Teachers' Association, said the past regulations have created ambiguity about the non-medical teachers' service. He said that the government should remove the restrictions on their hirings and protect the appointments of existing faculty members.

"Across the world, medical colleges rely on science graduates to teach non-clinical subjects. It appears that NMC is acting under the influence of medical graduates. We are denigrated, even though we have also studied in medical colleges and are qualified enough to compete with doctors. While there are a large number of vacant positions in medical colleges in remote areas, many doctors are reluctant to go there. The government should simply shut down MSc and PhD programmes if we are not deemed eligible to teach medical courses," he said.