Across the country, the number of private medical colleges is increasing at a much higher rate compared to government medical colleges. In this situation, it is inevitable that the number of postgraduate MD-MS seats in medicine will increase. However, due to regulatory constraints, problems remained. Therefore, the medical education regulatory body National Medical Commission (NMC) has now relaxed those old rules.

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To eliminate the long-standing seat disparity between government and private medical colleges, the NMC has taken steps to change the required number of faculty-doctors. The recently revised 'Post Graduate Minimum Standard Requirement' (PGMSR) guidelines have brought significant changes in the faculty-student ratio. Under the new rules, the number of approved students per professor has been increased from 2 to 3.

Revised PGMSR guidelines change faculty-student ratio

According to the new PGMSR rules, private medical colleges that are at least 15 years old and have been running PG courses for at least 10 years will now have the same faculty-student ratio as government medical colleges. As a result, health education experts believe that experienced private institutions have effectively received recognition on par with government medical colleges.

According to the revised guidelines, in MD-MS (broad specialty) courses, one professor or unit head can guide a maximum of three students. For an associate professor, this ratio is 1:2. Previously, this ratio was relatively stricter for many private colleges. Consequently, it was not possible to increase PG seats without increasing faculty. From that perspective, the new rules have significantly reduced that limitation.

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Again, in DM-MCh (super-specialty) courses, the same faculty-student ratio has been maintained for both government and private sectors. There, one professor or associate professor can guide a maximum of two students, and one assistant professor can guide one student.

According to health education circles, this decision will ultimately provide considerable relief to private medical colleges that have been conducting PG or post-doctoral courses for a long time. At the same time, it may also provide some advantage in increasing seats for higher medical education in the future. However, the NMC has made it clear that in determining PG seats, not only the faculty-student ratio but also the number of hospital beds, patient load, clinical workload, and infrastructure will all be considered.