NMC released new guidelines for medical education unit; no additional qualification for faculty

NMC revised guidelines include an exemption of the additional requirement for an Advance Course in Medical Education (ACME) or Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) fellowship for resource faculty until January 31, 2024.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has released revised regulations for the Medical Education Unit (MEU). NMC revised guidelines include an exemption of the additional requirement for an Advance Course in Medical Education (ACME) or Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) fellowship for resource faculty until January 31, 2024.

The medical commission stated in an official statement that the guidelines have been revised because medical colleges are not meeting the requirement of additional qualification, which is having an impact on the faculty's preparation for the Revised Basic Course Workshop (rBCW).

The revised guidelines state that the coordinator should be a professor or associate professor who has completed the MCI Basic Course Workshop (pre or revised) in Medical Education Technology (MET) or Attitude, Ethics and Communication module (AETCOM) or any other additional qualification like MMed, MHPE, Diploma in Medical Education, or Integrated Foundations of Medical Education (IFME) programme. There is no longer a need for an ACME or FAIMER fellowship.

The notice issued by the NMC on December 27 reads, “As per the NMC guidelines, in a medical college, a minimum of 4 MEU resource faculty must have additional qualifications like ACME, FAIMER, or equivalent. A large number of medical colleges however are not fulfilling this requirement. As a result, the RBCW training of faculty is getting affected. It has been decided to grant a limited-period waiver (up to 31 Jan 2024). A revised guideline for the Medical Education Unit (MEU) is circulated herewith.”

A minimum of eight faculty members are required at the Medical Education Unit. A minimum of four of them must have completed the FAIMER or ACME fellowship. The qualification has been waived by NMC specifically for this reason. The criteria also stated that the MEU library must have access to a minimum of two journals on academic medicine, clinical teacher, medical education, medical teachers and BMC medical education.

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