PG medical students may have to serve in district hospitals to be eligible to appear in final exam

All postgraduate medical students will have to serve in district hospitals for at least three months in order to be eligible to appear in the final exam, a Board of Governors (BoG), vested with the powers of the Medical Council of India (MCI), has proposed.

Currently, students pursuing undergraduate medical courses are attached to primary health centres or urban health centres for three months as part of a compulsory rotating internship.

The BoG has written to the Health Ministry to develop guidelines for implementation of the proposal for postgraduate students in partnership with it and the state governments. It has also sought that this provision comes into force from the next academic session.

"The move is aimed at providing practical experience to future specialists in real-life setting of the country's public health system. Also, this will help address shortage of specialist doctors in district hospitals of rural and remote areas, and help strengthen services at such hospitals," .