NMC revises guidelines for medical education unit, waives additional qualification for faculty

NEW DELHI: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has issued revised guidelines for the Medical Education Unit (MEU) including waiver of additional qualification of Advance Course in Medical Education (ACME) or Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) fellowship for resource faculty till January 31, 2024. In an official notification, the medical commission said that the guidelines have been revised as medical colleges are not fulfilling the requirement of additional qualification which is in turn affecting the Revised Basic Course Workshop (rBCW) training of faculty.

“As per NMC guidelines, in a medical college, a minimum of 4 MEU resource faculty must have additional qualification like ACME, FAIMER or equivalent. A large number of medical colleges however are not fulfilling this requirement. As a result, the rBCW training of faculty is getting affected. It has been decided to grant a limited period waiver (upto 31st Jan, 2024). A revised guideline for Medical Education Unit (MEU) is circulated herewith,” read NMC’s latest notice.

Also Read | Mandatory District Residency Programme for all PG medical students from 2021 batch onwards: NMC

According to the revised guidelines, the coordinator should be a professor or associate professor who should have undergone MCI Basic Course Workshop (pre or revised) in Medical Education Technology (MET) or Attitude, Ethics and Communication module (AETCOM) or any other additional qualification like MMed, MHPE, Diploma in Medical Education, or Integrated Foundations of Medical Education (IFME) programme. ACME, FAIMER fellowship is not required anymore.

Similarly for the MEU faculty, while there is a requirement of minimum of eight core faculty and MCI basic course training in MET, AETCOM, the requirement of ACME, FAIMER has been waived.

Also Read | NMC asks medical colleges to follow INC norms for nursing staff

MEU library should have access to atleast two of the journals on medical teacher, medical education, academic medicine, clinical teacer, BMC medical education, the guidelines said. The unit should be able to accommodate 30 participants and should have the listed equipments. Besides, there should be availability of high speed internet, high-resolution camera, etc.

NMC further asked medical colleges to forward the list of MEU resource faculty to affiliated regional centres for approval at the earliest. It informed that once the list is approved, no changes will be allowed till January 31, 2024.