The National Medical Commission (NMC) has recently announced amendments to the regulations for the qualifications of teachers/professors in medical institutions.

According to the commission, regulations will now be referred to as Teachers Eligibility Qualifications in Medical Institutions Regulations, 2023. NMC said the modification would come into effect from the date of the publication of the official gazette.

As per the revision, clause 12.3 of the regulations, under the heading General Norms about Foreign Postgraduate Qualifications for Equivalence, is substituted with:

“12.3 In such cases, if he or she has obtained MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) qualification in India and acknowledged postgraduate qualification, suitable for registration in India, from any of the five English-speaking nations, noted in Section 12.1 above, and satisfies the criteria cited in Section 12.1, then he or she shall be considered for teaching job in a medical institution in India, according to the Teachers Eligibility qualifications in Medical Institutions regulations-2022 as amended from time to time, relying on his or her teaching experience in medical sciences.”

Before, the clause was, “12.3 In such case he or she will be suitable for the position of Assistant Professor in the respective department and his following promotions would be according to the Teachers' Eligibility Qualifications in Medical Institutions Regulations- 2022".

While notifying the amendments, NMC said in the exercise of the powers granted by Section 57 of the National Medical Commission Act 2019, the commission makes the subsequent Regulations to further amend the Teachers Eligibility Qualifications in Medical Institutions Regulations- 2022.

In November previous year, National Medical Commission framed the amendment in teacher eligibility qualification regulations and sought feedback from the institutions, students, and others.