Ghulam Nabi Azad favours 6.5 year MBBS course duration

The Minister said mandatory rural posting for doctors was also being mulled. “Yes we are thinking on those lines. We are short of seven lakh doctors in villages,” he said.

The proposed one year increase in MBBS duration is being contemplated to set aside the additional year for mandatory rural service of MBBS graduates.

The proposal is to award the MBBS degree only after the completion of 5.5 years of regular MBBS course and one year of rural posting which would be linked to the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

The proposal comes in the wake of poor healthcare facilities in rural India and government aiming at providing better medical treatment and facilities to the rural population.

The government has also focussed much attention on its flagship NRHM program,on which a major chunk of the country’s health budget is spent for provision of improved healthcare facilities in rural areas of the country.