3-month dist posting must for PG medical students

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 19

All postgraduate students pursuing MD or MS will have to undergo compulsory posting for three months at district hospitals as part of their medical course curriculum starting the 2020-21 academic session.

In a radical development aimed at enhancing the presence of trained health human resources across districts, the government, through the MCI Board of Governors (BOG), today notified new postgraduate medical education regulations by introducing a special course called District Residency Programme for all PG students.

"All PG students pursuing MD/MS in broad specialties shall undergo a compulsory residential rotation of three months in district hospitals or any district health system as part of their course curricula. Such rotation will take place in the 3rd, 4th or 5th semester of the postgraduate programme. It will be called the District Residency Programme," the new notification says.

Satisfactory completion of the district residency will be an essential condition before the candidate is allowed to appear in the final exam of the respective PG course.

Since a quarter of the PG batch will be away at all times once the programme starts, medical colleges will be allowed to apply for extra seats to compensate for reduced student presence on the campus.

"Medical colleges may send an application to the MCI BOG for the enhancement of seats, as hospital work may be affected due to out-posting of students. Colleges can apply for it after one year of the implementation of the District Residency Programme," says the notification.

A certificate of satisfactory performance will be issued by District Residency Programme coordinator. They will be appointed across all district hospitals as part of the new module.

"Since the programme will be implemented with the batch joining this year, the first set of students will be posted in districts starting September 2021. Postings will be effected in the second or third year of study. Once the scheme kicks in, we expect every district hospital to have four to eight specialist residents at any point in time. This will be a game changer in strengthening the district health system, which is the backbone of the public health apparatus. Communities will benefit from trained PG students. Students will learn better from the mine of the clinical material available in districts. It is a win-win for all," said VK Paul, MCI BOG chairman.

District Residency Programme

• All students pursuing MD/MS will have to undergo a compulsory residential rotation of 3 months in district hospitals as part of course curriculum starting academic session 2020-21
• Such rotation will take place in the 3rd, 4th or 5th semester of the postgraduate course; a certificate of satisfactory performance will be issued by the coordinator district of the programme

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