Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare released report on Quality of Medical Education

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Primary objective of report was to find areas of improvement to ensure that medical graduates are well-equipped to navigate the evolving landscape of healthcare delivery.

Status of Medical Education in India
- One of the largest medical education systems with 702 medical colleges.
- India achieved a doctor to population ratio of 1:856 (WHO recommends 1:1000).
- Actual health research expenditure as a percentage of GDP has constantly remained at 0.02 since 2021-22.

Issues in Medical Education System
- Peculiar paradox as system produces significant number of physicians while many Indian students pursue their medical education abroad.
- Shortage of seats at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
- Uneven distribution of medical colleges with high concentration in urban areas.
- Non-availability of sufficient funds for medical research.
- Non-optimal use of existing infrastructure.

Recommendations
- Expansion of Government’s existing scheme for establishment of new medical colleges can help in increasing medical seats.
- Streamlining the recruitment process to prevent ghost faculty in medical colleges.
- Leverage technology for distance learning and virtual classrooms for addressing seat shortage.
- NMC maintain a real-time national database of doctors and undertake a comparative study of best practices of its parallel organisation in various countries.
- Chalk out comprehensive India-specific plan for next 20-25 years and encourage private investment.