Students who have cleared their Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree after 2010 or are yet to complete their mandatory one-year rural posting are likely to get an extension of another two years to adhere to the bond.
GOVT’S STATEMENT
“Many students were unhappy with the original proposal, wherein their degrees would be withheld if they don’t complete the rural stint immediately after getting their MBBS degree. The new proposal should give them time to complete the work,” said Girish Mahajan, minister of state medical education.
CURRENT RULES & WHY CHANGE THESE
— As of now, a medical graduate is allowed a period of six years to pursue higher education after completing MBBS and then focus on the rural stint.
— However, over the years, more and more students seem to be skipping this detail and the state has no mechanism in place to initiate doctors who do not do the rural service.
— The compulsory service was devised to ensure that understaffed rural hospitals have a few junior doctors.
— Therefore, the medical education department was planning to make the year-long bond mandatory for the students if they wanted their degrees.
A government resolution (GR) was published on October 12, making it clear that MBBS graduates yet to serve this rural posting would be barred from applying for post-graduate courses in January.
“While it is necessary to reiterate the compulsion of the rural stint for MBBS students, it will be unfair to make it mandatory only for a section of students,” said Dr Pravin Shingare, director, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER). “We have asked the state to incorporate the rural stint keeping in mind that future education prospects of MBBS students are not affected.”
Officials said two years were more than enough for the students to complete the mandatory rural stint.
