FAIMA-RMS Survey 2025: The medical profession carries a big social responsibility, lives depend on decisions doctors take every day. Yet, the quality of medical education and the mental well-being of medical students in India are becoming increasingly concerning. And, recently published FAIMA-RMS Survey 2025 exposed this.
The nationwide FAIMA-RMS Survey 2025 conducted by the Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA) has sent a strong warning signal: while the number of medical colleges and MBBS seats are increasing rapidly, critical gaps persist in infrastructure, faculty training, clinical exposure, workload distribution, and mental health support systems.
The findings of FAIMA-RMS Survey 2025 exposes realities lived daily by MBBS students, interns, residents, and teaching faculty across government and private colleges.
What Is the FAIMA-RMS Survey 2025?
The Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA) has released its Review of Medical System (RMS) Survey 2025, revealing widespread structural gaps in India’s medical education and healthcare training environment.
The survey was conducted between September and October 2025 and included responses from over 2,000 medical students, interns, residents, and faculty members across 28 states and union territories. Approximately 90% of the participants were from government medical colleges, while around 8% were from private institutions.
Join NEET News 2025 Dr Sajal Bansal, Chief Advisor, FAIMA said that doctors even from remote areas like Andaman & Nicobar participated in FAIMA-RMS Survey 2025.
It highlights critical issues such as inadequate infrastructure, shortage of qualified faculty, heavy clinical workload, and insufficient mental health support systems.
The FAIMA-RMS Survey 2025 focused on:
| Teaching quality | Patient and clinical exposure | Working conditions |
| Stipend and workload | Skills labs and learning environment | Mental health and stress levels |
Why Was the FAIMA Survey Needed?
In the last few years, India has rapidly expanded medical seats to address doctor-population imbalance. However, expansion without adequate planning risks producing doctors who are:
- Academically trained but not clinically confident, or
- Emotionally exhausted before they even begin independent practice.
Therefore, the FAIMA survey becomes a crucial tool to evaluate whether our medical education system is growing in quality, or only in numbers.
Read Also: NMC Expands Medical Education in India 2025: Total 1.37 Lakh MBBS Seats
FAIMA-RMS Survey 2025: Data Snapshot
| Parameter | Findings (% of Respondents) |
|---|---|
| Excessive clerical workload | 73.9% |
| Work environment described as “toxic” | 40.8% |
| Poor infrastructure is affecting education quality | 89.4% |
| Staff shortages | 55.2% |
| Timely stipend payments received | 50.0% |
| Fixed working hours | 29.5% |
| Adequate patient exposure | 71.5% |
| Regular teaching sessions | 54.3% |
| Functional skills labs available | 44.1% |
| Feel prepared for independent practice | 57.4% |
FAIMA-RMS Survey 2025: Key Findings
The survey exposes alarming but similar problems in both classroom teaching and hospital training settings. Students and residents are facing pressure, limited support, and uneven learning opportunities in both areas.
Inconsistent Clinical & Practical Exposure
- Only 71.5% of respondents said they had adequate patient exposure.
- Just 54.3% confirmed that regular teaching sessions were conducted.
- Only 44.1% reported the availability of a fully functional skills lab.
Medical education is practical by nature. Without hands-on skills, classroom knowledge remains theoretical. A doctor must learn by observing, practicing, repeating, and refining. If exposure is low, readiness will be weak.
Infrastructure is Not Keeping Up With Seat Expansion
- 89.4% believe poor infrastructure directly impacts the quality of training.
- 55.2% reported staff shortages within departments.
- Lab and equipment adequacy remained around 69%, far below ideal levels.
Seat expansion without faculty and infrastructure creates overcrowding. One microscope for multiple students, one cadaver for entire batches, doubled ward rotations, these experiences affect competency.
Read Also: NQAS Checklist for Medical Colleges: A Turning Point in India’s Medical Education
Working Conditions Are Affecting Health & Learning
- Only 50% of respondents receive stipends on time.
- Just 29.5% reported defined duty hours.
- A massive 73.9% said they are burdened with clerical and documentation work.
- 40.8% described their work environment as toxic.
This is where academic pressure crosses into breaking point territory. Medical students and residents often:
- Sleep irregularly
- Work 24-36-hour shifts
- Handle emergency cases under stress
- Face fear of making mistakes
When such workload is combined with lack of emotional support, it becomes a mental health crisis.
Mental Health Concerns Are Rising
- While 70.4% expressed moderate confidence in medical skills,
- Only 57.4% felt ready to practice independently after training.
The gap between knowledge and confidence is usually a stress indicator.
“The data suggests numerous students and medical professionals face acute mental stress”, said Dr Bansal. It leads to:
- Anxiety
- Exhaustion
- Depression
- Withdrawal from academic participation
In extreme cases, medical campuses have seen incidents of self-harm, protests, and emotional breakdowns, indicating systemic neglect.
Variation Between Government and Private Colleges
| Aspect | Government Colleges | Private Colleges |
|---|---|---|
| Patient Exposure | High | Moderate |
| Teaching Quality | Variable | Slightly better reported |
| Staff Shortage | More common | Less common |
| Workload & Paperwork | High | Moderate |
| Stipend Timeliness | Often delayed | More consistent |
Conclusion:
- Government colleges offer clinical exposure but high workload stress.
- Private colleges offer better structure but limited patient volume.
Neither system achieves a complete balance.
Why Are Survey Findings Concern for India?
India is one of the world’s fastest-growing healthcare markets. The survey findings are a serious concern for India because the country’s healthcare system is expanding rapidly and yet, the foundation, medical training, is struggling.
When new doctors are exhausted, lack proper hands-on clinical experience, and carry unaddressed stress or emotional fatigue, the quality of patient care suffers.
Healthcare outcomes depend not only on clinical knowledge and technical skill, but also on the mental well-being and confidence of the doctors providing care.
Healthcare outcomes depend as much on doctor well-being as on professional skill. If the training environment remains unhealthy, the entire healthcare system feels the impact.
What Needs to Change: Action Plan for Reform
To ensure medical education produces competent and emotionally resilient doctors, the following reforms are essential:
1. Strengthen Clinical & Skills Training
- Make skills labs mandatory and regularly audited.
- Ensure structured patient rounds and supervised procedures.
- Introduce simulation-based clinical practice, especially in private colleges.
2. Improve Staffing & Teaching Quality
- Increase faculty posts along with seat expansion.
- Conduct faculty development workshops.
- Monitor teaching schedules using digital audit logs.
3. Protect Health & Work-Life Balance
- Limit duty hours to humane standards.
- Shift clerical work to administrative staff.
- Ensure timely stipend, this is not a benefit, it is compensation for labor.
4. Establish Mental Health Support Systems
- Appoint full-time campus counsellors.
- Start structured peer-support and mentorship circles.
- Provide wellness leave without academic penalty.
5. Adopt Transparent, Outcome-Based Accreditation
NMC should evaluate colleges not by:
- Number of beds
- Buildings
- Equipment count
But by:
- Skill readiness of graduates
- Internship experience quality
- Mental health support availability
- Faculty workload balance
FAIMA’s Recommendations for Reform
FAIMA said that a National Task Force in 2024 gave several suggestions after doing a similar survey among medical students and teachers.
The suggestions included fixed duty hours, mental health counsellors, annual parent–interaction sessions, and 10 days of wellness leave. However, most of these ideas were not implemented.
The association asked the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the National Medical Commission (NMC) to act quickly.
Dr. Akshay Dongarvive said, “We will send detailed recommendations to NMC and NITI Aayog for reforms that protect the mental and academic well-being of medical students.”
FAIMA also said that despite many efforts, its representatives could not meet NMC officials, including the chairman, to share their suggestions.
Strengthening Medical Education for a Healthier India
The FAIMA survey has uncovered a reality that students have been living silently for years: medical education in India is stretched, stressed, and unevenly supported.
Increasing medical seats is a positive step, but growth must be accompanied by care.
Doctors save lives. We must first ensure that the system saves its students.
If learning environments become compassionate, structured, and well-equipped, India can produce not just more doctors, but better doctors.
