NMC withdraws new MBBS curriculum after strong opposition, revised CBME guidelines soon

NEW DELHI: After facing strong opposition from activists and academics, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has cancelled and withdrawn the Competency Based Medical Education Curriculum (CBME) Guidelines, 2024 published on August 31. The new MBBS curriculum will be revised and uploaded in due course on the NMC official website, it said.

“It is informed that the Circular of even number dated 31.08.2024 thereby issuing Guidelines under Competency Based Medical Education Curriculum (CBME) 2024, stands “WITHDRAWN AND CANCELLED” with immediate effect. The above guidelines will be revised and uploaded in due course,” the NMC said in its latest notification.

As per the revised guidelines, 75% attendance is mandatory for elective courses for the MBBS students starting from the next academic year 2025-26 to be eligible to appear for the National Exit Test (NExT).

Activists, including two international organisations, crticized the NMC for referring sodomy and lesbianism as “unnatural sexual offences” under the “sexual offences” topic within clinical forensic medicine. The new curriculum was criticized by disability activists and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community as well.

Satendra Singh, co-chair, International Council for Disability Inclusion in Medical Education, and Disability Core Group, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and Air Cmde (Dr) Sanjay Sharma (Retd) CEO and managing director of Association for Transgender Health in India (ATHI) and board member of World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) wrote a letter recently to the NMC and Union health ministry in this regard.

Also read NMC: Sodomy, lesbianism ‘sex offences’; 75% attendance in electives must for NExT exam

The letter highlighted how the new CBME curriculum defies the World Federation for Medical Education's (WFME) Global Standards for Quality Improvement: Basic Medical Education, 2020 and also contravene judgements by the Madras and Kerala High Courts.

The activists also pointed out how the revised curriculum does not adhere to the 2019 CBME curriculum notified by the erstwhile Medical Council of India (MCI) which suggested developing “more learner-centric, patient-centric and gender-sensitive”.