A new framework is being implemented by India’s National Medical Commission (NMC) to alter the accrediting procedure for medical colleges in Maharashtra. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council’s (NAAC) existing method is thought to be insufficient for evaluating medical facilities.
To provide a uniform procedure for all Indian medical colleges across the nation, the National Medical Commission (NMC) intends to create the National Board of Accreditation for Medical Sciences. The eleven criteria that will be the focus of the new accreditation scheme include surgery and infrastructure. This modification tries to allay worries about private medical universities luring students without fulfilling requirements in medical science.
On August 6, the National Medical Commission (NMC) will release a new medical education accreditation framework, which will affect almost 65 medical institutions in Maharashtra.
Currently, medical institutions are accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), a Central government-run entity that evaluates higher education institutions. However, the Centre has proposed the National Board of Accreditation for Medical Sciences because, according to an NMC official, NAAC is not qualified to evaluate a medical institution.
“The change in the accreditation process is part of the National Medical Commission Bill, 2019. It will standardize the process of accreditation for all Indian medical colleges across the country. Earlier, state medical councils and health universities would inspect the infrastructure and other facilities at a medical institution, while some institutions, especially private medical colleges, would seek NAAC accreditation to attract students,” the official said
Dr. Pravin Shingare, former director of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research, Maharashtra, said many medical institutions have got A+ grades from NAAC but do not have good infrastructure, which is why the National Medical Commission (NMC) recently reduced the number of seats in those colleges.
“NAAC accreditation was based on general criteria such as student-teacher ratio, infrastructure, and research works carried out. With the new accreditation system, medical institutions will be scrutinized on 11 parameters, including the number of critical surgeries, general surgeries, super-specialty, outpatient and inpatient numbers, and whether the institution has the infrastructure to match them,” he said.
The dean of a public medical college stated that many private medical colleges used NAAC accreditation to attract students for MBBS courses, even though they did not meet the medical qualifications required by medical science regulations
(Source: Hindustan Times)
