FM SEPTEMBER 2018 ISSUE - digital edition

education
issues
A QUESTION OF EQUIVALENCE
DNB doctors are pinning their hope on the proposed NMC Bill as the SC rejects
the demand seeking absolute equivalence to MD/MS degree
With the union government
going ahead with its plan to
introduce the National Medical
Commission (NMC) bill to implement
drastic changes to medical education
in India -- including the replacement
of the Medical Council of India (MCI)
-- the demand for making Diplomate
of National Board (DNB) equivalent
to Doctor of Medicine (MD) has been
growing.
DNB is awarded by the National
Board of Examinations (NBE), an
autonomous body under the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare, while MD/
MS degrees are offered by universities
affiliated to MCI.
The Association of National Board
Accredited Institutions (ANBAI), which
formed the All India DNB Alumni
Association in June this year to raise
the voice of DNB graduates, is at the
forefront of raising the demand. The
body recently submitted a Charter of
Demands to the PMO and Union Health
Minister J. P. Nadda on behalf of DNB
graduates in the country. The decision
to submit the Charter of Demands was
taken at the inaugural meeting of the All
India DNB Alumni Association, which was
held in Hyderabad in June.
When ANBAI officials met J.P.
Nadda with the demand of DNB-
MD equivalency in May this year, the
minister reportedly assured them
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
HAS CATEGORICALLY
SAID THAT DNB AND MD
ARE EQUIVALENT. BUT
SOME PEOPLE ARE STILL
NOT READY TO GIVE
EQUIVALENCY, WHICH IS
AGAINST LAW.
that DNB graduates would be given
equivalency to MD degree as per the
2012 Government of India (GOI) gazette
notification. “Government of India has
categorically said that DNB and MD are
equivalent. But some people are still
not ready to give equivalency, which is
against law. The government has agreed
to implement it stringently once they
introduce the new bill,” said Dr. Sunil
Sharma, Joint Secretary, ANBAI.
Follow the law: DNBs
The 2012 GOI gazette notified DNB
equivalence to MD for all those who have
undergone DNB training in institutions
which run MCI-recognized postgraduate
degree courses in a given subject and
those who have undergone training
in multi-specialty teaching hospitals
with at least 500 beds. The notification
proposed one additional year of senior
residency or equivalent training or
research job in an MCI-recognized
hospital or institution for others for
equivalency. But the gazette notification
issued by MCI in 2017 proposed DNB
equivalence only for those candidates
who have undergone training in
institutions which run MCI-recognized
postgraduate degree courses. The
National Board of Examinations regulates
42 / FUTURE MEDICINE / SEPTEMBER 2018