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The National Medical Commission (NMC) has notified the Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Regulations (MSMER), 2023, mandating the medical colleges and medical institutions to furnish annual disclosure report, stipulating methods of evaluation of such reports by the respective Boards, provisions for joint or independent evaluation by the Boards and penalties including monetary penalty and withholding of accreditation process, among others. The regulations have come into force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette, which was on September 19, 2023.
The Regulation mandates that the medical college or medical institution is obligated to furnish an Annual Disclosure Report to the corresponding Board - Under Graduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) or Post Graduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) - satisfying the conditions under the notified Minimum Standard Requirements (MSR) by these Boards and as per the regulations of NMC. The Boards can also seek additional information with regard to the Report as and when deemed necessary for their assessment.
The Boards shall evaluate the Report for verifying whether the medical college or medical institution fulfills the required conditions, including the physical infrastructure, availability of required number of qualified faculty for actual teaching and research, availability of adequate clinical material in terms of number of patients of different specialities, variety of patients to fulfill all round training of students, number of variety of procedures, surgeries, laboratory investigations, radiological investigations and other relevant investigations, assessment of teaching methodology adopted, the methods and modes of assessment, grading of the students, review of feedback from students and other parameters related to the standards of medical education. The institution shall furnish information and documents sought by the respective Board in 30 days from the date of receipt of communication from the Board in prescribed format.
"If the applicant fails to submit such information or clarify or provide additional documents etc., as mandated by the respective Board within such prescribed time including any additional time provided by the respective Board, shall be deemed as non-compliance with the Regulations and shall attract penalty," said the MSMER, 2023.
Besides, any of the Board individually or collectively may conduct evaluation to check the accuracy of the averments made out in the Annual Disclosure Report from the medical college or medical institution. The Boards need to mandatorily share the conduct of evaluation and its outcome to other Boards and the NMC at the earliest but not exceeding seven days.
"After such inspection under this Regulation, if the concerned Board or Boards contemplate any remedial measure or action etc., such measure or action shall be intimated to the medical college or medical institution, through the concerned Board (UGMEB or PGMEB). Provided it shall be the administrative responsibility of the concerned Board to oversee that such measure or action intimated are duly complied with by the medical college or medical institution," it added.
If the medical college or medical institution is found to be successfully meeting requirements as prescribed for the UGMEB or PGMEB as the case may be, the concerned Board shall provide a renewal certificate for continuation of the course/s and admission of students thereof for the next/coming academic year. Any deficiency noted will attract penalties with or without the decision above, said the Regulation.
Upon any violation of the minimum standards, the Board shall either penalise the medical college or medical institution and conduct further enquiry into such act and wherever needed provide an opportunity to rectify the same. The imposition of penalty include issuance of warning with direction to rectify or comply; monetary penalty not exceeding Rs. 1 crore per violation or act of omission by the medical institution; monetary penalty not exceeding Rs. 5 lakh for the faculty or Head of the Department or Dean or Director or Doctor submitting false declaration, documents or records including patients' records. Further, they can also be charged or penalised for misconduct under the Registered Medical Practitioners (Professional Conduct) Regulations.
The penalty may also include withholding the accreditation process of the college or institution, reducing the number of students in the next or subsequent academic years, stoppage of admission to one or more of the courses in the next or subsequent academic years, recommending to NMC for withdrawal of permission, withholding and withdrawal of accreditation for a period up to five academic years, among others. The medical institution may be granted a reasonable opportunity to rectify the deficiencies and any further action shall be taken if it fails to meet the requisite norms, it added. The UGMEB, PGMEB or the NMC may also initiate criminal proceedings for furnishing false information, or fabrication of false documents as per the criminal law in force at that time, it added.
The Medical College or Medical Institution or any such aggrieved person may file an appeal before the NMC with an appropriate fee within sixty days of passing of an order by the Boards. They can approach the Central Government if aggrieved by the Commission's decision or if the Commission fails to give its decision within 45 days from the date of receipt of such an appeal, it said. The second appeal in such cases, to the Central government should be filed within 30 days from the date of such order or lapse of time. The decision of the Central government in this regard shall be final, said the notification.
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