Private doctors allowed to teach in government medical colleges: Health Ministry

To join as a visiting faculty, one should have at least eight years of experience in his/her specialty department after attaining a postgraduate degree.

The Medical Council of India has allowed government medical colleges to appoint private doctors as ‘visiting faculty’. According to the report, the approval of appointing private doctors as visiting faculty in medical colleges is given by the Government of India. While talking about the approval in the Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey said that approval has been given to enhance the quality and comprehensiveness of teaching in the medical education.

Talking further about the changes brought by the government, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare minister stated that the “Minimum Qualifications for Teachers in Medical Institutions Regulations 1998” was also modified by the board of Governors with prior approval from the Central Government. Replying to the members in the upper house Dharmapuri Srinivas and TG Venkatesh, the minister cleared that the modification in the regulation was made to appoint private doctors are ‘visiting faculty’ in medical colleges.

The decision has been taken to curb the shortage of teachers and faculty in medical colleges. However, it has also been stated that the new regulation will not be applicable to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry.

The official notification released on this matter says that the teachers who will be appointed as the visiting faculty will be recruited on a part-time basis. To join as a visiting faculty, one should have at least eight years of experience in his/her specialty department after attaining a PG degree. The upper age limit of a visiting faculty is 70 years. According to the notification, the visiting faculty can be from NGOs, retired personnel, or private medical practitioners, who are interested to teach young medicine aspirants.

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