'Gender Identity Disorder' term removed from medical education guidelines

After the observations made by the Madras High Court Bench regarding the gender identity mentioned in the Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) Guidelines, 2024, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has released clarification.

The NMC has deleted the sub-topic that asked students to demonstrate knowledge of medico-legal, societal, ethical and humanitarian principles on dealing with LGBTQA community. It has also modified the topic titled "Psychosexual and Gender Identity Disorders" to "Psychosexual Disorders and Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression".

For physiology, the commission has modified the topic titled "Explain sex determination, sex differentiation and their abnormalities and discuss the effects of removal of gonads on physiological functions" to "Explain sex determination, sex differentiation, and their physiological alterations and discuss the effects of removal of gonads on physiological functions”.

The Madras HC had expressed concerns about the usage of the term "Gender Identity Disorder" in the CBME guidelines. The Bench comprising Justice N Anand Venkatesh had clarified that there was no psychological disorder involved in a person belonging to the LGBTQIA community and held that "such a mistaken understanding must be corrected by making appropriate changes in the curriculum”.

The CBME guidelines were first released on August 31 and scrapped after a week by the NMC after receiving criticism from the LGBTQ advocates, and disability activists.