Soon, a new board will replace NAAC for giving accreditation to medical colleges

The National Medical Commission (NMC) in India is introducing a new framework to change the accreditation process for medical colleges in Maharashtra. The current system, run by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), is deemed insufficient for assessing medical institutions. The NMC plans to establish the National Board of Accreditation for Medical Sciences to ensure a standardized process for all medical colleges across the country. The new accreditation system will focus on 11 parameters, including surgeries and infrastructure. This change aims to address concerns about colleges attracting students without meeting medical science requirements.

Accreditation for nearly 65 medical colleges in Maharashtra is set to be changed with the National Medical Commission (NMC) releasing a new framework in this regard on August 6.

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At present, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) - a Central government-run organisation that assesses higher education institutions - gives accreditation to medical colleges.

However, an NMC official said NAAC is not equipped to assess a medical institution and hence, the Centre has proposed to set up the National Board of Accreditation for Medical Sciences.

“The change in accreditation process is part of the National Medical Commission Bill, 2019. It will standardise the process of accreditation for all medical colleges across the country. Earlier, health universities would inspect the infrastructure and other facilities at a medical college while some institutions, especially private ones, 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 colleges have got A+ grading from NAAC but do not have good infrastructure because of which NMC recently reduced the number of seats in those colleges.

“NAAC accreditation was based on general criteria such as student-teacher ratio, infrastructure, research works carried out etc. With the new accreditation system, the medical colleges will be scrutinised on 11 parameters, including the number of critical surgeries, general surgeries, super-specialty, outpatient and inpatient numbers, and whether the institution has infrastructure to match them,” he said.

The dean of a public medical college said many private medical colleges used NAAC accreditation to attract students for admission even though they did not meet the medical science requirements. “It is good that all the 5,000 medical colleges in the country will be accredited under the new board.”