The National Medical Commission (NMC) has notified the Medical Institutions (Qualifications of Faculty) Regulations, 2025. Issued by the Post Graduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) under the NMC, these regulations are designed to widen the pool of eligible faculty and facilitate a substantial expansion of both undergraduate (MBBS) and postgraduate (MD/MS) seats across medical colleges in India.
The new regulations directly address the critical bottleneck of qualified faculty, which has previously hindered the initiation or expansion of medical programs. This reform is poised to unlock the existing human resource potential within government health systems and optimize the nation’s medical education infrastructure.
Key Reforms Introduced to Faculty Qualifications and Medical Education Standards:
Enabling Faculty from Government Hospitals
Non-teaching government hospitals with over 220 beds can now be designated as teaching institutions. Existing specialists with 10 years of experience can be appointed as Associate Professors, and those with 2 years of experience can become Assistant Professors, even without mandatory Senior Residency, provided they complete the Basic Course in Biomedical Research (BCBR) within two years.
Expanded Recognition of Experience
- Senior Consultants with three years of teaching experience in NBEMS-recognized government medical institutions are now eligible for the post of Professor.
- Diploma holders serving as Specialists or Medical Officers in relevant departments of government medical institutions running NBEMS-recognized teaching programs, with six years of cumulative experience, are eligible for the post of Assistant Professor.
- A cumulative period of up to five years served by a faculty member in the NMC, a University, a State Medical Council, a medical education department, or a medical research-related Government organization will now be counted as valid teaching experience.
Facilitating Simultaneous UG and PG Courses
New government medical colleges are now permitted to commence undergraduate and postgraduate courses concurrently, a move designed to expedite the production of healthcare professionals and teaching faculty.
Rationalization of Postgraduate Minimum Standards
Postgraduate courses can now be initiated with a minimum of two faculty members and two seats, relaxing the previous requirement of three faculty and a senior resident. Bed requirements per unit have also been rationalized for several specialties.
The regulations allow more feeder broad specialties for various super specialty programs, promoting better utilization of existing faculty across departments.
Beyond Anatomy, Physiology, and Biochemistry, departments of Microbiology and Pharmacology can now also appoint faculty holding MSc-PhD qualifications.
The upper age limit for appointment as Senior Resident has been increased to 50 years for pre-clinical and para-clinical subjects, including Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Pathology, Microbiology, Forensic Medicine, and Community Medicine.
Experience gained as Tutors or Demonstrators by candidates with postgraduate qualifications will now be considered valid for eligibility as Assistant Professor.
Faculty with super specialty qualifications currently working in broad specialty departments can now be formally designated as faculty in their corresponding super specialty departments.
