On Tuesday, National Medical Commission (NMC) recently introduced new rules for how medical education is taught. These rules are titled- Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) Curriculum Regulations 2023, and they started being implemented on August 1.

According to these rules, universities must arrange the start of the first year of medical studies by August 1 annually, beginning from the academic year 2024-25. No students can join after August 30. If any college accepts students after this date, they might confront consequences set by the NMC.

Students will need to take exams at the end of each year. If they don't pass, they can take supplementary exams. These extra exams and the results will be finished within 3-6 weeks after the main exam results are declared. This rule aims to help students who pass to move forward with their studies.

If a student fails the supplementary exam for the first year of medical studies, they will join the next year's batch. There won't be additional chances to retake exams. Even trying just part of an exam will be considered an attempt.

In the first year, the curriculum reveals that students will learn about Anatomy, Physiology, and Biochemistry, while in the second year, they will study Pathology, Microbiology, and Pharmacology. The third year includes Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Community Medicine, ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat), and Ophthalmology. And in the final years, students will cover various medical specialties like General Medicine, Pediatrics, Dermatology, Psychiatry, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Orthopaedics, Anesthesiology, and Radiodiagnosis.

This new way of teaching medical students aims to create well-rounded doctors equipped with the right knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values to work effectively with patients and communities. The NMC released these rules on June 12 but then changed their minds on June 23. They asked for feedback from people who are affected by these rules. Students can find the complete rules on their official website- nmc.org.in.