NEW DELHI:
Responding the memorandum submitted by the National M.Sc Medical Teachers’ Association (NMMTA), the union health ministry on 27th May has written to the Principal Secretaries of Health/Medical Education of all the states and union territories clarifying that in case of ‘non-medical’ teachers working in medical colleges, Ph.D is required only for the post of Associate Professor and above. This move came following the memorandum submitted by Dr. Sridhar Rao (President) and Arjun Maitra (General Secretary) to the Health Ministry.
Serial No.2 in the Shedule-I of the MCI’s Teachers Eligibility and Qualification (TEQ) guidelines states, “A non-medical approved medical M.Sc. qualification shall be a sufficient qualification for appointment as Lecturer in the subject concerned but for promotion to higher teaching post a candidate must possess the Ph.D. degree in the subject”.
“Several medical colleges and the Department of Medical Education (DME) of the state governments were denying appointment or promotion as Assistant Professor to the non-medical teachers who did not possess Ph.D”, said Dr. Sridhar Rao. “In a written reply to the Lok Sabha in December 2018, MoHFW had stated the same, yet it was not being honored by some medical colleges and DMEs because of disparity between the qualifications mentioned in the schedule-I and Table-I of the TEQ guidelines”, said Arjun Maitra. “We had requested the ministry to put an end to this confusion by editing the Table-I of the TEQ guidelines via a gazette notification or letters to the concerned”, he added.
“This communication is significant as some prejudiced elements had attempted misinformation propaganda regarding the eligibility and continuance of non-medical teachers in medical colleges”, said Dr. Sridhar. “All those have now been laid to rest”, he added while thanking the Health Ministry for being responsive to their demands. “In February 2019, the honorable High Court of Punjab and Haryana had ruled that the non-medical teachers who were Professors in the non-clinical departments of the medical colleges could be appointed as Head of the Departments. We have requested the health ministry and MCI to honor this judgment and amend the TEQ accordingly”, added Arjun.
Non-medical teachers are clinical scientists possessing medical M.Sc/Ph.D degree in the subjects of Anatomy, Biochemistry, Physiology, Pharmacology and Microbiology. These 3-year courses are imparted to the science graduates mostly in the medical colleges based on similar curriculum and syllabus as MD courses, and the degrees are awarded under the faculty of medicine by the health universities.
As per MCI’s TEQ, they can be appointed to an extent of 30 % (50% in Biochemistry) of the teaching faculty in these five non-clinical subjects. NMMTA claims that around 13% of the teaching faculties in the non-clinical subjects of the medical colleges across India are ‘non-medical’. “We have also requested the health ministry to create a council to regulate medical M.Sc courses and to register the persons with these degrees. This will enable us to render our services effectively in the diagnostic laboratories”, said Dr. Sridhar Rao. NMMTA is a registered association of persons with medical M.Sc/Ph.D in the non-clinical subjects, most of whom are working as teachers in the medical colleges across India.
