This is as per Times of India news service,
Adopting a tough stand, the Medical Council of India has decided not to give any extra time to students who do not clear their professional exams within nine years from the date of admission in a medical college. The MCI's governing body has agreed that 'a student shall not be allowed to graduate later than nine years of joining first MBBS course.'
Till now, there was no upper limit to the number of attempts for passing the MBBS course. As a result, all medical institutions had a group of consistent failures and authorities didn't know what to do with them. In fact, chronic failures from Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (CSMMU) are behind the regulations. Had they not raised the matter with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, the MCI wouldn't have woken up to the cause.
A group of students had in fact alleged discrimination on the part of the medical university. Later on, a delegation of the commission found the allegation untrue. Irked by the incident, CSMMU's V-C wrote to MCI and suggested the changes, which were discussed and approved by members of MCI in March 2012. "The rules offer a solution to the problem of chronic failures. Students will now have to pass MBBS in nine years or leave," said the dean of a state medical college.
Another important change is about number of attempts for taking a professional exam. From now on, only four attempts would be given to students to clear the first university professional examinations. And the first professional course must be completed within four years of admission. Partial attendance in an examination in any subject shall be counted as an attempt.
The points has been incorporated in the 'Regulations for Graduate Medical Education 2012', copies of which have been sent to various medical institutions. Spokesperson, CSMMU Prof AA Mahdi said that medical education would undergo significant changes once these regulations are notified.
Mandatory foundation course and electives
New batch of medical students will be exposed to a two-month long mandatory foundation course as per the regulations. "There shall be a bridge course termed as foundation course to orient medical students to MBBS programme, and provide them with requisite knowledge, communication (including electronic), technical and language skills required," says the regulations document. "The goal of the foundation course is to prepare a student to study medicine effectively. It will be of two months duration after admission," it adds.The course would include elements of orientation, skill module, core subject orientation, field visits to community health centre, sports and extracurricular activities including yoga, enhancement of language and computer skills.The regulations say that the first two months of the first year would be dedicated to the foundation course. Students who do not have at least 75% attendance in the foundation course classes will not be eligible for the phase-I examination.
The duration of professional exams has also been changed under the said regulations. For instance, till now, the first professional exam for medical students took place after 18 months. As per the new rules, the exam would be held after 12 months. The duration of part-1 and 2 of the third professional has been increased to 13 months instead of the traditional 12 months period. Students will have to clear two electives (or posting in various departments of the medical college) of two months each in the third professional term. The aim of electives is to help a student understand the nitty-gritty of medical education so that he/she is able to choose the stream for future education. And those who do not have 75% attendance in the electives will not be eligible for the phase III part 2 examination.
