Medical students protest against NMC Bill

Coimbatore: Students of the Coimbatore Medical College (CMC) on Monday boycotted classes and staged a protest against the Centre’s National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill and the move to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI) with NMC.
As many as 450 students participated in the protest held near the South Taluk Office in the city.
The protesters said the MCI was a body exclusively for doctors, who understood the functioning of the healthcare system and also medical education. “But the NMC bill says the body would comprise politicians and administrators, who have no connection with healthcare. This would dilute the system,” said S Sriguru, a final year medical student.
The introduction of the national exit test (Next), which the centre has been planning to make mandatory for doctors in order to practice, undermined the exams and internship they give in their five years of medical study, Sriguru said. “They say UG students should clear the theory part of Next in order to practice and the practical part of Next for PG admissions. This would undermine the relevance of state universities and cause confusion in medical education. The provision to bring in community health providers would be detrimental to the healthcare system. They say people, who complete a six-month bridge course can offer healthcare services. When even trained paramedics can’t offer full-fledged healthcare services, how can someone, who finished a six-month course do so?”