Who can now become a medical college professor? NMC relaxes teaching eligibility rules

Who can now become a medical college professor? NMC relaxes teaching eligibility rules

Doctors with zero teaching experience can enter medical academia - here's how.

Written by Anonna Dutt

New Delhi | Updated: January 19, 2025 15:25 IST

Senior residents with a diploma could be promoted as assistant professors.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has updated requirements for teachers’ eligibility for medical colleges, easing some of the norms for appointing professors. With an increase in the number of medical colleges in the country, there have been concerns about the number of faculty.

Those who have worked as consultants, specialists, and medical officers for at least four years in a minimum 220-bed teaching or non-teaching government hospital can become an assistant professor. According to the new norms, a consultant, specialist, or medical officer with at least 10 years of experience can become an associate professor.

The 2022 norms allowed non-teaching doctors to become assistant professors after working for two years in a 330-bed non-teaching hospital, only when the hospital was being converted into a medical college. This was done because the government was in the process of converting several district hospitals to new medical colleges. “This would only be a one-time provision,” the previous norms said.

The new norms also relax the criteria for senior residents with diplomas to be promoted to assistant professors. The new norms state that those working as senior residents in the same institute should be eligible for the post of assistant professor. Those who have been teaching as PG teachers for the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences-approved diploma courses can become professors in NMC-approved colleges after three years of experience as PG teachers.

When it comes to appointing professors, the new norms require the publication of only two research papers as associate professors as the first three authors. The 2022 norms required four research papers by professors, with two as associate professors. It does not mention the order in which the person should be listed as the author.

The previous norms by the Medical Council of India required professors to have four publications as either the first author or the corresponding author. However, the 2022 and current norms clearly say that only original research meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and case series will be considered and not letters to editors or opinion pieces.