Mumbai: Medical experts, academic professionals, and education activists have raised serious concerns over a recent policy change allowing non-MBBS individuals with MSc or PhD qualifications to teach undergraduate medical students in India. They argue that the move undermines the quality of medical education and poses significant risks to patient safety.
In submissions to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) last week, several organisations and individuals from the healthcare and academic sectors expressed their strong opposition to the proposed change.
In its letter to MoHFW, United Doctors Front’s (UDF) president, Dr. Lakshay Mittal, raised concerns over the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) Teachers Eligibility Qualifications (TEQ) 2022 and the Draft TEQ 2024, which allow non-MBBS postgraduates to be appointed as faculty in pre-clinical subjects such as Anatomy, Physiology, and Biochemistry. The 2022 TEQ permits their appointment up to 15%, while the 2024 draft proposes such appointments during a transition period, without clear limits or a timeframe.
“Medical education demands both theory and hands-on clinical training deliverable only by post-MBBS doctors trained in patient care, communication, clinical skills, and national service,” Mittal stated. UDF warned that including non-MBBS MSc/PhD faculty would “dilute teaching quality, degrade clinical competence of future doctors and jeopardise patient safety”.
The letter further argued that private colleges might use these provisions to reduce costs by hiring non-MBBS faculty, potentially leading to a long-term decline in educational standards. It noted that MD/MS faculty in phase 1 subjects are already available in sufficient numbers, with 400–500 more graduating each year, making the inclusion of non-MBBS faculty unnecessary.
The letter also pointed out that non-MBBS qualifications such as MSc and PhD are not regulated by the NMC and are instead run by different universities with varying admission and evaluation standards. “Equating non-MBBS MSc/PhD holders with MBBS, MD/MS faculty, even temporarily, should be stopped,” UDF said, adding that such inclusion undermines the goals of the Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) curriculum introduced by NMC.
Brijesh Sutaria, a Mumbai-based medical education activist, echoed these concerns. “Allowing non-MBBS MSc/PhD faculty to teach MBBS students may seem like an academic compromise, but in reality, it risks diluting clinical training at its foundation. Medicine is not just science; it’s patient care, communication, and decision-making under pressure. Teachers without that clinical grounding cannot prepare future doctors for real-world challenges. This isn’t just a policy concern; it’s a patient safety issue,” Sutaria told The Free Press Journal.
UDF also referred to earlier recommendations made by NMC-appointed committees during the transition from the Medical Council of India, which proposed a complete halt to the appointment of non-medical faculty after a fixed period. The organisation has called for TEQ 2024 to strictly exclude non-MBBS MSc/PhD faculty from MBBS teaching, even during transition phase.
