Medical college in every UP district, 49 new nursing institutions soon: Top medical education officer

NEW DELHI: Thirteen new government medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh are set to begin their first academic session from 2023, raising the tally of government MBBS seats in the state to 5,128. Alok Kumar, principal secretary, department of medical education, UP, spoke to Careers360 about the expansion, meeting staff requirements, the government’s focus on nursing and improving healthcare.

Q. Uttar Pradesh will start 13 new government medical colleges this year. What is the progress in that plan ?

A. Principals have been appointed. The construction is complete and we are recruiting faculties and staff. We have applied to the National Medical Commission (NMC) for permission and NMC inspectors will come between June and July 2023 for assessment to provide permission to run the MBBS courses.

Q. How many undergraduate (UG) medical seats will UP have once these are functional?

A. We had 8,300 MBBS seats in 2022-23. We will have around 1,000 more with the 13 new medical colleges in Uttar Pradesh.

MBBS seats will be added by private medical colleges as well. The exact number will be known once the NMC gives the requisite permissions and the seat matrix for admission counselling is ready.

The number of seats may increase as a few private colleges may also start functioning from this year; existing colleges may expand.

Q. Are there more government medical colleges in the pipeline?

A. Uttar Pradesh has 75 districts and we have 65 medical colleges, 35 government and 30 private, in 59 districts. So, there are 16 districts with no medical college and districts like Lucknow which have over six.

One of the priorities of the Uttar Pradesh government is to have at least one medical college in each district. We have a public-private-partnership (PPP) policy for establishing medical colleges in under-served areas where the government is giving subsidies to private sector operators to set up medical colleges. We have found four private entities who are going to develop medical colleges. Their functioning will depend upon the pace of their construction. Six private sector operators are under bidding process for establishing medical colleges. For the remaining six districts, we are asking for an in-principle approval of the Government of India (GoI) which is likely to come within six months.

All districts of Uttar Pradesh will be covered by at least one medical college by the end of 2027.

Q. How will the new medical colleges help improve medical education and healthcare?

A. People will be able to avail tertiary-level medical services in their own districts and won't need to travel long distances. They will also get more affordable and quality healthcare.

Uttar Pradesh is among states with a low number of medical professionals per thousand population. Medical colleges also produce workforce for the entire healthcare system of the state. We will have more medical professionals including doctors, nurses, allied healthcare professionals and paramedical staff.

Q. After Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh has the most applicants for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET 2023). How do you see this ?

A. The state government in 2015 realised that UP is not adequately investing in healthcare and worked toward improving the healthcare system. Now, we see a whole new push for investment, both public and private. We have doubled the number of government medical colleges from 17 in 2017 to 35 in 2022. In a span of five to seven years, we will be tripling the number of government medical colleges.

It is huge exponential growth and I don’t see any other state achieving this much within such a short span. With constant support from the government towards the medical sector, we are witnessing a demand among students for medical courses.

We are increasing the number of medical colleges to increase access for students.

Q. How is the government ensuring proper faculty strength in the colleges?

A. In 2018, the UP cabinet approved the Medical Bond Scheme under which MBBS graduates from government medical colleges have to serve UP residents for two years at a place where the government desires.

Now, MBBS graduates will be available as junior residents and PG medical graduates will be available as senior residents and faculties. PG students with one year of experience will become assistant professors. In this way, we have ensured proper supply of faculties at assistant-professor level.

We need 51 faculty members for first year MBBS students of whom six are professors, 15 are associate professors and the rest, assistant professors. So, the bulk of the vacancies are at the assistant-professor level and through this bond scheme we are able to fulfil the need of assistant professors.

The real challenge is to get professors and associate professors. We have decided that assistant professors with four years of service will be promoted as associate professors. To fill the posts at the professor level, we have decided to induct professors who retired from government colleges at 65. According to NMC norms, they will be allowed to teach students at the age of 70 years. This is how we are solving the problem of faculty shortage.

Also Read | 50 new medical colleges approved in India this year, adding 8,195 UG seats

Q. Is there any plan to revise the stipend given to MBBS interns?

A. In Uttar Pradesh, MBBS interns are getting Rs 12,000 per month, junior residents are being paid Rs 55,000 per month and senior residents, Rs 75,000-80,000.

Medical stipends in Uttar Pradesh are fairly generous and pretty good. I think what we are giving to students is the highest in the country.

Q. What are your views on the National Exit Test (NExT) proposed by NMC ?

A. What we see is that various medical colleges affiliated to different universities have differing standards on who would be qualified as a doctor after passing the MBBS course. The state medical councils are left with no choice except registering them as doctors irrespective of whether the graduating doctor has sufficient knowledge and skills.

In other courses, regulators and councils register people after taking exit examinations. So, NMC has decided that the final-year MBBS examination will be treated as an exit examination and licentiate examination. With the implementation of NExT, MBBS graduates will not need to appear in NEET PG and the marks and merit in NExT exam will determine PG admission.

It is a good standard examination and I think it will be conducted in a transparent manner.

Q. Can you please give an overview of nursing education in UP?

A. UP has 0.6 nurses per thousand population. This number should be three as per World Health Organisation (WHO) standards. Tamil Nadu has 5.5; Kerala has 9. So, we have a very small number of nurses in the state.

The quality of nursing is a matter of concern. We wanted to hire 4,500 nurses for the new medical colleges but we could recruit only 3,000 through the UP Public Service Commission (UPPSC). Although hundreds of thousands students with required degrees and diplomas had applied, only 3% of them were able to meet the minimum skill benchmark. This made me understand that we have a large number of graduates with degrees but don’t have matching knowledge and skills.

While the UP government was operating 35 medical colleges in 2021, we were operating only five colleges offering BSc nursing courses.

We decided to enhance the number of government nursing colleges and now have 22 offering nursing courses. We will have 49 such colleges in the next two-three years as we have decided that every medical college will have a co-located nursing college. Under Mission Niramaya, we are working towards good quality nursing education.

Also Read | Union Cabinet approves setting up of 157 nursing colleges

Q. There are reports of UP students enrolling in ghost nursing colleges in Madhya Pradesh. How are you planning to tackle this ?

A. If you have a large number of people in the medical workforce who don’t have the minimum knowledge and skill, then there is something wrong with the medical education system.

I can say with full conviction that we have eliminated all such colleges in Uttar Pradesh which were offering nursing degrees to students without them attending the classes. What neighbouring states are doing is beyond my jurisdiction.

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I hear from private nursing colleges associations that because of tightening of norms in UP, some of the students are migrating to these neighbouring states and enrolling in colleges which are providing degrees without students attending the colleges. I have escalated this to the president of Indian Nursing Council (INC) Dr T Dileep Kumar and he may take it up with concerned state governments. I have also requested him to consider an exit exam for nursing on the lines of NExT.