The National Medical Commission (NMC) has decided to cancel three subjects—Emergency Medicine, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation—that are required for the MBBS course. The NMC informed the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Friday that these subjects will now be included as part of General Medicine. In response, the High Court questioned the Commission about how it could eliminate the course in Respiratory Medicine and underlined the importance of this subject during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Court also asked for the rationale behind including such an important topic in General Medicine. The High Court directed the Commission to provide a reasoned explanation for this decision within three weeks, and the petitioner was asked to submit a reply. The petition was heard Justice Bharti Dangre and Justice Abhay Mantri. In response to the NMC’s counsel stating that the subject would be part of General Medicine, the petitioner’s counsel argued that this would adversely affect the availability of doctors in hospitals for these critical subjects.

 

If the subject is eliminated, it means that the teaching staff for these courses would also be unavailable at 706 medical colleges across the country. The Commission explained to the High Court that these subjects were not entirely excluded; instead, they have been integrated into General Medicine to reduce the curriculum burden on undergraduate medical students. The petitioner’s counsel contended that the Commission’s decision would deprive medical students of crucial courses and adversely impact the treatment of ordinary citizens.

 

The PIL was filed by Dr Rajesh Swarnkar, Treasurer of the Indian Chest Society, and Dr Ganesh Joshi, a member of the Indian Association of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Since the National Medical Commission became operational on August 8, 2019, replacing the Medical Council of India, it issued new guidelines in June 2023 that excluded these three departments from the list of essential subjects. The High Court permitted the petitioner to challenge the new guidelines and instructed them to file a counter-affidavit, if necessary, in response to the Commission’s affidavit. Adv Tushar Mandlekar represented the petitioners.