Faced with shortage of doctors in villages and remote areas, the Medical Council of India has proposed a one-year mandatory rural service for medical undergraduates by increasing the duration of MBBS course to 6.5 years.

At present, the MBBS course is of 5.5 years, including a year-long internship. The MCI intends to use this additional year for a village posting of doctors under the existing National Rural Health Mission scheme of the Centre.

The proposal, mooted by MCI Board of Governors Chairman K K Talwar to the Health Ministry at a recent meeting held here to discuss shortage of doctors in villages, involves increasing the MBBS duration from 5.5 years to 6.5 years.

While the effective MBBS course would remain of 4.5 years, medical undergraduates would have to do a two-year internship instead of one.

Talwar told PTI that the additional one year of rural posting would be linked to NRHM to enable the Centre to get doctors from the states.



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