Medicine Meets Morality: Soon, MBBS Students Will Have To Study Ethics & Communication, To Be Better Doctors

The new board of Medical Council of India has approved the new MBBS curriculum by adding a course on ethics and communication to the syllabus of medical undergraduates from the academic year 2019-20 , reports Indian Express.

The ethics and communication course will be taught over several years. It primarily seeks to correct the trust deficit in the doctor-patient relationship by making sure students understand early on in the training stage that communicating with a patient is as important as treating him.

The medical board has also approved a proposal to relax norms for DNB (Diplomate of National Board) degree holders to teach in hospitals like PGI, AIIMS, and other state medical colleges. This step is to address the shortage of medical faculty in India.

DNB doctors obtain their postgraduate qualifications from the National Board of Examination and get their training from private hospitals, which don’t have medical colleges. This proposal will make all DNB degree holders, working in specialities with over 100 beds and super-specialities private hospitals, to be eligible for faculty positions, on completion of one additional year as the senior residency at any MCI-recognised institution.

Dr Vinod Paul, the board chairman, has said that the notification will be issued soon.