Maharashtra DMER extends residency of PG medical students

Days after the National Medical Commission (NMC) asked all postgraduate (PG) medical students to continue working as residents in hospitals as part of the Covid task force, the state Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) released a circular on Friday reinstating the decision.

Days after the National Medical Commission (NMC) asked all postgraduate (PG) medical students to continue working as residents in hospitals as part of the Covid task force, the state Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) released a circular on Friday reinstating the decision.

HT Image

“We are bound by NMC rules and will have to follow it. DMER has informed all colleges in Maharashtra to ensure that NMC rules are followed,” said TP Lahane, director of DMER. He added that as of yet, there was no clarity on the period of extension from NMC.

Final-year PG medical examinations have been stalled in most states due to the deterioration of Covid-19 situation. Similarly, no fresh admissions to PG medical and diploma courses were done due to the postponement of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET PG) exams.

Students of most PG colleges were roped in last year to augment trained manpower for treatment of Covid and non-Covid patients. The fresh NMC directive seeks to ensure that the current batch continues to serve as resident doctors to help deal with the present crisis until fresh admissions are made to PG courses and final-year examinations are held.

NEET-PG exams are generally conducted in the month of February every year and the final-year examinations are generally held between April-May in colleges in the state.

“The start of the 2021-2022 academic session will be delayed and the new batch of first-year PG students will join only after NEET-PG examination is held, followed by counselling to allocate colleges,” the NMC circular released on April 27 said. It further stated that the students’ continued deployment as residents will help ensure there is no shortage of hands to deal with the surge of Covid-19 cases.

NMC has also advised colleges to continue providing accommodation and stipend to PG students during this extended period.

Meanwhile, a group of PG students approached state health minister Rajesh Tope and asked for at least a 45-day period to prepare for their exams. “We’ve been working nonstop for some months now, left with no time to prepare for the exams. We hope the state government considers this before scheduling our final exams,” said the letter addressed to Tope.