The National Medical Commission (NMC) has issued a circular asking medical students in post graduate colleges across the country to continue doubling up as as resident doctors to help healthcare apparatus deal with the massive rise in Covid-19 cases seen during the ongoing second wave of the pandemic.
Final year PG medical examinations have been stalled in most states due to the deterioration of Covid situation. Similarly, no fresh admissions to PG medical and diploma courses were done due to the postponement of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-PG) exams. Students of most PG colleges were roped in last year to augment trained manpower for treatment of Covid and non-Covid patients. The fresh NMC directive seeks to ensure that the current batch continues to serve as resident doctors to help deal with the present crisis until fresh admissions are made to PG courses and final year examinations are held.
“The start of the 2021-2022 academic session will be delayed and the new batch of first year PG students will join only after NEET-PG examination is held, followed by counselling to allocate colleges,” the NMC circular released on April 27 said. It further states that the students continued deployment as residents will help ensure there is no shortage of hands to deal with the surge of Covid-19 cases.
