NMC Reforms Needed in Medical Education: Every year, over 20 lakh Indian students sit for the NEET UG exam and dream of becoming MBBS doctors.
For many, this dream isn’t just personal; it’s a family dream, often built on years of sacrifice, coaching classes, and late-night prayers.
But once the dream begins, once a student enters medical college, another reality hits. Between outdated lectures, endless theory exams, unpaid internships, and confusing regulations, many students realise: our medical education system needs more healing than we do.
The National Medical Commission (NMC) was meant to be the cure for the ills of the Medical Council of India (MCI), a body that would modernise Indian medical education. And yes, some progress has happened: competency-based curriculum, NExT exam roadmap, and digital reforms.
But talk to students across the country, and you’ll hear one consistent line: The intentions are good. The implementation isn’t.
Join NEET News 2025 In this article, we’re performing surgery on the system itself. Here are the top 10 NMC reforms needed in medical education that students across India believe are essential, not for comfort, but for fairness, respect, and a future-ready education system.
Read Also: NMC vs MCI: Has the “Historic Reform” Delivered? A 5-Year Review of Medical Education Reforms
Top 10 NMC Reforms Needed in Medical Education
For 2025-26 academic cycle, NMC has expanded medical education by increasing MBBS seats to 1.37 lakh. It is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to add 75,000 seat in 5 year.
1. Uniform Internship Stipend – Because Equal Work Deserves Equal Pay
In a recent development the Ministry of Home & Family Welfare (MoHFW) asks NMC to review uniform stipend for MBBS interns across India to bring some respite for medical students.
If you talk to interns in different states, you’ll be shocked.
One earns ₹25,000/month in a government college in Delhi. Another, doing the same duties in a private college in MP, gets nothing.
How can two future doctors, trained under the same NMC guidelines, be treated so differently?
An internship is not a classroom; it’s real work. These young doctors handle patients, assist in surgeries, run night shifts, and often work 15-hour days.
What Students Are Asking For:
- A national minimum stipend policy, applicable to both private and government colleges.
- Timely disbursement of payments directly into student accounts.
- Action against institutions that fail to comply.
“We’re not asking for charity. We’re asking for our findamental rights and dignity.” – Intern at a private medical college in Delhi-NCR
Uniform internship pay isn’t just financial fairness, it’s justice.
Read Also: NMC Stipend Rules 2025: Mandatory Stipend for MBBS Interns and Resident Doctors
2. Fair Workload & Duty Hours for Interns and Residents
Ask any intern what their schedule looks like, and it’s brutal.
24-hour shifts, no sleep, no meals, and sometimes no recognition. In many hospitals, residents are overworked to the point of collapse.
Medicine demands dedication, not exploitation.
NMC’s Reform Agenda Should Include:
- A maximum 80-hour work week, following WHO and ACGME norms.
- Mandatory 12-hour rest after 24-hour continuous duty.
- Anonymous grievance reporting for overwork and harassment.
“We are not machines. Fatigue and overwork-load kills our focus.”
– Resident Doctor, Delhi
Let’s build a culture where saving lives doesn’t come at the cost of one’s own health.
Read Also: NMC New Regulations 2025: Practical Guide for Medical Colleges and Students
3. Annual Quality Audits – Because Every College Must Earn Its Recognition
The problem isn’t just high fees. It’s what some colleges offer in return.
A few private medical colleges operate with:
- Low patient inflow,
- Part-time faculty, and
- Bare-minimum labs or skill labs.
Students often complain that they barely get to touch real patients until the final year. Imagine studying “clinical medicine” without ever seeing a case live.
What NMC Needs to Change:
- NMC should conduct annual quality audits for all colleges, government and private.
- Publish results openly: patient load, faculty count, lab facilities, student feedback.
- Revoke admissions for non-compliant institutions.
“We are not against private colleges. We are against poor-quality ones.”
– 4th-year student at a medical college in Rajasthan
A degree should mean competence, not just a piece of paper.
Read Also: NQAS Checklist for Medical Colleges: A Turning Point in India’s Medical Education
4. Curriculum Reform – More Practicals, Less Theory
Let’s be honest: the MBBS curriculum is very heavy on papers rather than patients.
While NMC’s Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) was a good initiative, many colleges continue with the same old “read and repeat” model.
Students still spend hours memorising obscure theory that’s never used in practice.
What Students Want:
- Early clinical exposure, starting from the 1st year itself.
- Integrated teaching, linking anatomy with pathology and physiology with clinical practice.
- Simulation labs for learning hands-on procedures safely.
“We know the theory of CPR. But many of us never actually practice it on a mannequin before internship.”
— 2nd-year student, Karnataka
NMC’s goal must be to move medical education from rote learning to real learning.
5. Mental Health, Ragging & Emotional Support
Medical education is one of the most stressful journeys in India. The pressure to perform, the fear of failure, and the toxic culture of hierarchy often break even the strongest minds.
According to multiple surveys:
- 60-70% of Indian medical students experience anxiety or depression.
- Ragging and humiliation are still reported in several colleges.
What NMC Should Do:
- Make on-campus counsellors and psychologists mandatory.
- Create a confidential reporting mechanism for mental health issues and harassment.
- Include mental health awareness workshops in the curriculum.
When students feel emotionally safe, they learn better, and they become doctors who truly care.
Read Also: NMC Anti-Ragging Bill 2025: Do You Know Rights of 1st year MBBS Students?
6. Transparent Fee Regulation in Private Medical Colleges
Ask any NEET parent what scares them most, and it’s not the entrance exam. It’s the fees.
Even after the NMC Fee Guidelines 2022, the ground reality hasn’t changed much. Colleges have simply found creative ways to label charges, “hospital maintenance,” “research fund,” “clinical exposure fee,” or worse, “miscellaneous.”
For an MBBS seat, a middle-class family can end up paying ₹80 lakh to ₹1.2 crore, excluding living expenses.
Medicine shouldn’t be a privilege for the rich; it should be an opportunity for the capable.
What NMC Can Do:
- Create a national fee dashboard, listing the exact approved fees of every NMC-recognised college.
- Make itemised fee receipts mandatory.
- Penalise colleges that charge beyond the prescribed amount.
“Our parents sell land, take loans, and skip their dreams to fund ours. The least the system can offer is transparency.”
— 1st-year MBBS student, Lucknow
When education becomes an industry, empathy dies. NMC’s next big reform must be about making medical education affordable again.
Read Also: NMC vs Private Colleges on Fee Guidelines 2025: Rising Medical Education Cost Crisis
7. NExT Exam Clarity
Last week, the NMC deferred the National Exit Test (NExT) for another 3-4 years. NExT is one of the biggest reforms NMC has introduced, a single exam replacing final-year MBBS, FMGE, and PG screening.
But students are anxious.
No one seems to have a clear picture of the syllabus, evaluation, or implementation timeline.
What NMC Must Do:
- Publish an official NExT Handbook with a detailed syllabus and sample papers.
- Conduct mock NExT tests under real conditions before full rollout.
- Offer transition support for current MBBS batches.
“We’re not afraid of NMC roforms on NExT and new exams, but we want total clarity and transparency.” – Final-year MBBS student, Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad, UP
If implemented transparently, NExT could become a tool for fairness and standardisation, not fear.
Read Also: NMC NExT Exam 2025: Why It is Being Delayed?
8. Research & Innovation at the Undergraduate Level
India produces lakhs of doctors every year, but very few innovators.
Why? Because medical research still feels “optional” in our education system.
Students are buried under syllabus pressure, leaving no time or opportunity for research projects or innovation.
What NMC Should Do:
- Start a National Undergraduate Research Grant (NURG) program.
- Include research as a credit-based module in MBBS.
- Organise National Medical Student Research Conferences every year.
Encouraging research early creates doctors who ask why, not just how.
Read Also: Top 7 Research Opportunities for Medical Students in India
9. Hostel Safety & Infrastructure Standards
When parents send their children away for MBBS, their first question is always: Will my child be safe?
And that’s a valid concern.
Many colleges, especially in smaller cities, still have inadequate hostel facilities, poor sanitation, and unsafe environments for women.
What NMC Can Do:
- Introduce uniform hostel and safety norms across all institutions.
- Make infrastructure audits compulsory and publish reports online.
- Set up grievance cells for parents and students regarding campus safety.
A secure environment allows students to focus on learning instead of survival.
Read Also: 10 Most Beautiful Medical Colleges for MBBS in India
10. Global Recognition and Exchange Programs
Indian-origin doctors are leading global healthcare, from the U.K. to the U.S. to the Gulf. But ironically, our own medical education system offers very little global exposure.
Students who want to attend short-term exchange programs or research internships abroad face bureaucratic obstacles and a lack of institutional support.
What NMC Can Do:
- Collaborate with WHO, ECFMG, and foreign universities to create recognised exchange pathways.
- Integrate WFME-accredited global standards into the Indian MBBS curriculum.
- Encourage student exchange and online collaborative courses.
Medical education today must prepare students for a globalised, research-driven healthcare ecosystem.
Read Also: Top 10 Universities for Medicine in 2025: QS World University Rankings
What Students Really Want
What students are really asking for is simple:
- Fairness in pay.
- Clarity in exams.
- Dignity in workload.
- Safety and empathy in campuses.
They are not asking for luxury; they are asking for humanity.
Read Also: India’s Medical Education Revolution: NMC Reforms, CBME, NEXT & More
The Way Forward: Listening Before Regulating
The NMC was created to be a reformer, not just a regulator.
But real reform starts with listening, listening to the ones who are the future: the students.
Imagine an India where:
- Every medical college has transparent fees and fair pay.
- Students learn through real clinical exposure and research.
- Exams like NExT are clear, structured, and merit-based.
- Mental health and student safety are treated as academic priorities.
That’s not a dream. That’s a direction, and the NMC has the power to lead it.
Read Also: AI & Modern Technology in Indian Medical Education: Trends, Challenges & Future Roadmap
Student-Driven NMC Reform Wishlist
| Reform Area | Key Change Needed | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Internship Stipend | Uniform pay across India | Dignity for equal work |
| Fee Transparency | National fee dashboard | Protects parents from exploitation |
| Quality Audits | Annual checks with public reports | Ensures education quality |
| Curriculum | More clinical, less rote | Builds practical doctors |
| Mental Health | Mandatory counsellors | Prevents burnout & suicides |
| Workload | Duty hour limits | Promotes safe, humane training |
| NExT | Clear guidelines | Reduces anxiety & confusion |
| Research | Grants & credits | Promotes innovation |
| Hostel Safety | Standard norms | Protects students |
| Global Exposure | International tie-ups | Builds globally competent doctors |
System Needs Surgery
India’s medical education system has produced some of the finest doctors in the world, despite its flaws.
Imagine what we could achieve if the system itself became healthier.
The NMC’s big challenge is not regulation, it’s implementation and empathy with students and junior doctors.
To build a generation of doctors who are world-class and highly competitive, you must first reform the system that trains them.
Because the best reform isn’t written in policy papers. It’s written in the hearts and experiences of students who live medicine every day.
