Medical Council of India (MCI) general body meeting scheduled to be held in March, is likely to take the final call on the issue of compulsory one-year posting in rural areas for MBBS students.
It may be mentioned here that the original proposal of the MCI to amend the Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations which makes one year rural posting at a Public Health Centre (PHC) mandatory for MBBS students to become eligible to apply for admission into PG course has not yet been notified.
Dr Reddy said one year mandatory service after the completion of MBBS could be made flexible, by incorporating a rule that MBBS graduates who qualified for PG medical course, could be allowed to finish their rural service after completion of their PG course. This norm was included in a GO issued in undivided Andhra Pradesh, he said.
According to Dr Reddy, mandatory rural service norm presents some practical problems. There are about 1,800 PHCs in the States of AP and Telangana and the number of medical graduates passing out from medical colleges in the two States is 6,000. “When this is the scenario, how can 6,000 medical graduates be accommodated in 1,800-odd PHCs?” he questioned.