Centre to introduce short-term medical education course: Minister

The Centre has decided to introduce a short-term medical education course at district level, in government-run schools, to reach out to rural population across the country.

"The Central government will soon launch a three-and-half-year medical education cadre and open district-level schools to impart it to produce doctors who will be later posted in rural areas," Union health and family welfare minister Gulam Nabi Azad told reporters here today.

This short-term medical course, including medicine and surgery (in the curriculum) will be imparted only at government-run schools and the degrees will be awarded by the universities, he said.

At present, Primary Health Centres (PHC) are manned by only one Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) who is in charge of all the work. But now onwards, doctors, on completion of the short-term course, would be posted at PHC and sub-centres, Azad said.

Acknowledging the scarcity of qualified doctors, Azad said the intake capacity of government-run medical colleges is being increased from 150 to 250 seats at graduation level.

Further, at the post-graduation level, instead of one student, the guide will be allowed to have two students, he said.