MBBS syllabus set for revamp after 21 years

Nagpur: The new curriculum of undergraduate medical course (MBBS) will be implemented from the academic session starting August 2019 across the country. India’s medical education curriculum is getting a makeover after 21 years. To ensure proper implementation, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has constituted a nationwide expert group to guide colleges on various issues related to the new curriculum.
From Maharashtra, pro vice-chancellor of Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) Dr Mohan Khamgaonkar has been asked to monitor the implementation of new course by colleges in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Dr Khamgaonkar has also been asked to coordinate the nationwide implementation of the new course apart from his responsibility for Maharashtra and Gujarat.
“MCI is implementing the new competency-based UG curriculum for academic year starting August 1, 2019. Since this is a huge task, it was proposed that the monitoring of this activity should be entrusted to an expert group. MCI requests your expertise in monitoring this activity and would request you to accept this assignment,” says the correspondence from MCI secretary general Rakesh Kumar Vats to all 12 members of the committee.
A senior member from MCI academic cell said the council had sent an advisory to deans and principals of all medical colleges, and had asked them to upload the timetable for the first-year MBBS teaching on their websites.
“Academic cell has been receiving e-mails from many colleges that they have uploaded the information on websites. When we conducted a scrutiny, we found that uploads from most colleges were incomplete,” the member said.
“Many colleges uploaded timetable related to one-month foundation course or first three months of teaching. Due to this, before final implementation from this academic session, a close monitoring of colleges becomes crucial for the success of new curriculum,” the member added. The 12-member expert group will monitor the activity.
The MCI move is to ensure that students starting their first-year MBBS course from August 1 will learn the new curriculum.