NMC tightens grip on PG medical courses with revised norms; check new requirements here

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has issued a fresh notice announcing changes to the Minimum Standards of Requirements for Post-Graduate Courses, 2023. The updated rules have come into effect immediately and all medical colleges must follow them.

The notice was issued by the Post-Graduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB), which works under the NMC and is responsible for setting rules for postgraduate medical education in India.

What is this notice about

The notice updates the existing Post-Graduate Minimum Standards of Requirements (PGMSR), 2023. These standards define what medical colleges need to have in order to start and run postgraduate medical courses.

This includes rules related to infrastructure, faculty, hospital facilities, equipment and patient load. The standards were earlier released in January 2024 and updated in August 2024 and January 2025. Now, another amendment has been issued in February 2026.

Key message from NMC

All medical colleges and institutions offering postgraduate medical courses must follow the updated rules from now on. There is no transition period. The changes apply immediately.

What has changed: Explained simply

1. Basic hospital and infrastructure requirements
Medical colleges must have proper hospital buildings and facilities as per government rules. This includes outpatient departments, inpatient wards, operation theatres, Intensive Care Units (ICU), laboratories and emergency services.

All required approvals from authorities must already be in place.

2. Equipment and learning facilities
Departments must have modern equipment and proper training facilities. Colleges must also provide digital libraries, seminar halls and internet access.

Teaching rooms with audio visual facilities are now mandatory for each department.

3. Patient load requirement
Hospitals must have enough patients for proper training.

• At least 80 percent of hospital beds should be occupied throughout the year
• Departments must have enough ICU and High Dependency Unit (HDU) beds
• Patient records must be maintained digitally

4. Faculty rules
All faculty members must work full time and cannot do private practice during working hours.

They must have at least 75 percent attendance in a year.

5. New monitoring measures

• CCTV cameras must be installed in medical colleges
• Attendance of staff must be recorded digitally through Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS)
• Colleges must maintain proper patient data and hospital records

6. Mandatory college website details
Every medical college must have a website and regularly update it.

The website should include List of departments, PG courses and number of seats, Faculty details of last three years, Student admission details, Patient attendance and bed occupancy, Number of surgeries performed.

7. Bed and department requirements
Standalone postgraduate institutes must have at least 220 beds and certain compulsory departments like:

• Biochemistry
• Pathology
• Microbiology
• Radio diagnosis
• Anaesthesiology

8. New digital health integration
Colleges must link their systems with the Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) and generate ABHA IDs for patients.

9. Limit on PG seats
In non government medical colleges, a maximum of four seats will be allowed per year when starting a new postgraduate course or increasing intake.

10. Workload requirements for training
The notice also sets clear rules for clinical workload.

For example minimum number of patients per day, minimum surgeries per week, required number of X-rays, CT scans and other tests, specific workload targets for departments like pathology, microbiology and radiology.

These ensure students get enough practical exposure during training.

11. Faculty to student ratio
The number of teachers required depends on the number of students.

For example:

• Professor can guide 2 to 3 students
• Associate Professor can guide 2 students
• Assistant Professor can guide 1 student

12. Limits on units and beds
Each department can have a maximum of six units and each unit can have up to 40 beds.

Read the official notice here.

The new rules focus on improving quality in postgraduate medical education by ensuring better infrastructure, enough patients for training, stricter monitoring and proper faculty availability.

Medical colleges across India are now required to immediately follow these updated standards.
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