NMC released new guidelines for medical education including no additional qualification for faculty

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has released updated regulations for the Medical Education Unit (MEU), which 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 31 January 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.

In a broader sense, the requirement for ACME and FAIMER for MEU faculty has been removed, even if there is still a minimum requirement of eight core faculty and MCI basic course training in MET and AETCOM.

According to the guidelines, the MEU library should have access to at least 2 periodicals on medical education, academic medicine, clinical teacher, and BMC medical education. The facility should have all of the listed amenities and be able to hold 30 participants. In addition, there should be access to high-speed internet, a camera of good quality, etc.

Additionally, NMC requested that medical colleges send the list of MEU resource faculty to affiliated regional centres as soon as possible for approval. It said that no amendments would be permitted to the list after approval until 31 January 2024.