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National Medical Commission: National Medical Commission has approved 10,650 new MBBS seats for the academic year 2024-25.
National Medical Commission: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has approved 10,650 new MBBS seats for the academic year 2024-25. With this increase, medical education in India will be easily accessible to the people. With the addition of 41 new government medical colleges, the total number of government medical institutions in the country has also increased to 816. National Medical Commission (NMC) chief Dr. Abhijat said that out of 170 applications received for expansion of undergraduate (UG) seats, 41 have been recognized as government colleges and 129 as private institutions. With this, NMC has approved a total of 10,650 MBBS seats. 3,500 applications were received for new and renewed seats.
UG + PG = 15000 seats
Dr. Sheth said that the Commission expects an increase of about 5,000 PG seats, taking the total number of PG seats across the country to 67,000. The total increase in both UG and PG seats this year will be around 15,000. However, there has been some delay in the final approval process and consultation. Officials have assured that these processes will be completed within the stipulated time-frame. National Medical Commission (NMC) chief Dr Abhijat said that a blueprint detailing the schedule of accreditation, examinations and seat matrix approval for the upcoming academic year will be published soon. Apart from this, the portal for applications for 2025-26 is going to open in the beginning of November.
Research will get a boost
Notably, Dr Sheth highlighted that this year was the first time in recent history that all appeals against decisions of the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) were disposed of without any court intervention. In an effort to enhance the quality of medical education, Dr. Sheth also announced that the NMC is exploring the possibility of including clinical research in the mainstream medical curriculum. Plans are underway for collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to strengthen medical research infrastructure and promote clinical research in medical education. The efforts of the NMC are being seen as a step towards improving the medical education capacity in the country, in line with the government’s vision to expand healthcare infrastructure and meet the growing demand for medical professionals.
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