MBBS course duration to be extended by 1 year

Monday, February 6, 2012: India is planning to make its undergraduate MBBS course six-and-a-half years long, instead of the present five-and-a-half years.
In a meeting on Saturday, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and the Medical Council of India (MCI) discussed amending the MCI Act that would make a one-year rural posting compulsory for all MBBS students before they can become doctors. The proposal was first mooted by former health minister A Ramadoss in 2007.
The Medical Council of India is set to extend the duration of the MBBS course by a year. The proposal to extend the duration of the MBBS course by a year and a year of compulsory rural posting was unanimously approved in a meeting held on Saturday by Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.
One year’s rural postings for doctors has also been made compulsory by the ministry. The MBBS course will now be for six-and-a-half instead of five-and-a-half years.
It was learnt that the proposal will now be placed before the board of governors of the MCI and will then be sent to the Centre for approval. Shortage of doctors and poor health services were apparently the reasons why it is being made compulsory for doctors to serve a year in rural areas.
India is facing an acute shortage of human resources in health - the sting of which is being faced by the flagship NRHM, and the vulnerable population in rural, tribal and hilly areas is extremely underserved.