Perceptions and opinion of the medical students about the National Medical Commission Act: a cross sectional study from a medical college in North Kerala

Authors

  • Madhusudan M. Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad, Kerala, India
  • Arun Varghese Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad, Kerala, India
  • Akhil Raj V. Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad, Kerala, India
  • Afreen A. Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad, Kerala, India
  • Mohammed Anees K. Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad, Kerala, India
  • Numan Siddique Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad, Kerala, India
  • Tessy Thomas Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad, Kerala, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20201978

Keywords:

Kerala, Medical students, NMC, Opinion, Perceptions

Abstract

Background: The National Medical Commission (NMC) Act, 2019 has come into force from August 2019 with the aim of addressing the shortcomings in the process of regulating medical colleges in the country and also in the wake of allegations of corruption against the 63-year-old Medical Council of India. However, it has been criticized for various reasons viz., it is over-centralized, it would lead to increased profiteering, corruption etc. In this context the present study was undertaken to find out the perceptions and opinion of the medical students about the NMC act.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study done at a Medical College, Wayanad District, between August-January 2019. All the undergraduate medical students of the college were the study subjects. Data was collected using a predesigned and pretested self-administered questionnaire. The subjects were asked to give response to questions pertaining to NMC on a Likert scale of 1 to 5. Completed responses were obtained from a total 655 students.

Results: The subjects strongly agreed with the 6 limitations of the NMC (median score 1) and agreed with 9 (median score 2) out of the total 15 limitations. The number of subjects agreeing (agree and strongly agree) was highest [574 (88.3%)] for “NMC is over-centralized”.

Conclusions: The subjects agreed (strongly agree+agree) to all the limitations of the NMC. There was no disagreement to any of the limitations.

Author Biographies

Madhusudan M., Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad, Kerala, India

Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine

Arun Varghese, Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad, Kerala, India

Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine

Akhil Raj V., Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad, Kerala, India

Undergraduate student, Department of Community Medicine

Afreen A., Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad, Kerala, India

Undergraduate student, Department of Community Medicine

Mohammed Anees K., Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad, Kerala, India

Undergraduate student, Department of Community Medicine

Numan Siddique, Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad, Kerala, India

Undergraduate student, Department of Community Medicine

Tessy Thomas, Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad, Kerala, India

Lecturer in Biostatistics, Dept of Community Medicine

References

The National Medical Commission Act, 2019. New Delhi: Ministry of Law and Justice. 2019. Available at: http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2019/ 210357.pdf. Accessed on 2 January 2020.

National Medical Commission bill passes Rajya Sabha test; healthcare on verge of landmark changes. New Delhi: The Economic Times. 2019. Available from: https://economictimes.indiatimes. com/news/economy/policy/national-medical-commission-bill-passes-rajya-sabha-test-healthcare-on-verge-of-landmark-changes/articleshow/ 70483570.cms. Accessed on 2 January 2020.

Sign the mass petition to NMC Parliamentary standing committee. Chandigarh: Nagpal N. 2019. Available from: https://www.dailyrounds.org/nmc-petition. Accessed on 2 January 2020.

Dr. Santanu Sen speaks on practice of hiring villagers as dummy patients to get MCI recognition. Kolkata: All India Trinamool Congress. 2019. Available from: http://aitcofficial.org/parliament/in-parliament-rajya-sabha/dr-santanu-sen-speaks-on-the-national-medical-commission-bill-2019/. Accessed on 2 January 2020.

NMC Bill: a bitter-sweet pill for Indian healthcare. 2020. Available from: https://www.plexusmd.com /md/post/nmc-bill-a-bitter-sweet-pill/33538. Accessed on 12 April 2020.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan hails the NMC Act 2019 as historic, path-breaking and a game-changer. New Delhi: Press Information Bureau, Government of India-Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 2019. Available from: https://pib.gov.in/newsite/ PrintRelease.aspx?relid=192533. Accessed on 12 April 2020.

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Published

2020-04-24

How to Cite

M., M., Varghese, A., V., A. R., A., A., K., M. A., Siddique, N., & Thomas, T. (2020). Perceptions and opinion of the medical students about the National Medical Commission Act: a cross sectional study from a medical college in North Kerala. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 7(5), 1766–1773. https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20201978

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Section

Original Research Articles