NMC's MARB Introduces New Guidelines for Medical College Applications and Assessments

New Delhi: With the objective of standardizing the application process for new medical colleges, seat increments in UG and PG medical courses, and to enhance the efficiency of assessment procedures (including assessor selection and assessment processes), the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) under the National Medical Commission, NMC has introduced updated guidelines. 

The NMC guidelines have been formulated by the NMC Board, aligning with the revised Graduate Medical Education Regulations (GMER) 2023 and the Undergraduate Minimum Standard Requirements (UG MSR) 2023.

The recently released guidelines by MARB, applicable for the academic year 2024-2025, extensively cover topics such as the Assessment Process, Application Fee, Accreditation in a stepwise manner, Sanctions and Penalties, Assessment and Rating, and procedures for Redressal and Appeal. 

Further, the NMC's document provides formats for Essentiality Certificate, Consent of Affiliation, Consent of Affiliation for seat increments, various forms for UG and PG assessments, review forms for UG and PG courses, UG scrutiny form, PG scrutiny format, and Assessor self-declaration form. 

Guidelines Released by NMC

Referring to the guidelines for the Academic Year 2024-2025, the NMC Medical Assessment and Rating Board provided additional clarification:

1. Any deficiency identified in applications submitted by the Medical Colleges/Institutions at any stage of the ongoing process will lead to immediate rejection of the applications.

1. The physical inspection does not grant immunity to Medical Colleges/Institutions concerning any deficiencies in applications or AADHAR Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) data.

III. The MARB guidelines for the Academic Year 2024-25 may be subject to further modifications, clarifications, or instructions issued by the commission over time.

Key Points Discussed

Some key points discussed in the guidelines include:

Assessment Process:

In addressing the Assessment Process, the Commission highlighted that regardless of other statements, the MARB determines the appropriate assessment and/or inspection method before granting permission to establish a medical institution. 

Such methods may include, but are not limited to, document verification in digital or alternative forms, Aadhar-based attendance register, live video feed verification, photographs, Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) data, or surprise physical assessments."

Highlighting the significance of the Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS), MARB clarified that all medical colleges are required to install AEBAS, linked to the Command-and-Control Center of the NMC.

The daily AEBAS records of essential staff (faculty, residents, and support staff), preferably incorporating facial recognition, should be accessible to both NMC and on the Medical College Website through a daily attendance dashboard. 

MARB pointed out the mandatory requirement of a 75% attendance for faculties and residents. It clarified that only medical colleges with faculties maintaining at least 75% attendance in the three months leading up to the application deadline (i.e., 19th September) on AEBAS will be evaluated to determine if this count aligns with MSR requirements, making them eligible for physical inspection thereafter.

AEBAS attendance of registered faculty for the ten working days preceding (and including) the inspection date will be a crucial criterion considered during the inspection," it further highlighted. 

Further, NMC looked into the pre-assessment process for various applications, including new PG applications, other PG applications, applications for increasing seats in PG and UG, and new UG colleges.

The NMC Board provided extensive information about the computer-based selection of assessors. It highlighted the use of Robust Randomization Software to minimize human intervention in selecting the assessment date and assessors. Although inspections will be unannounced, the list of medical colleges scheduled for assessment will be published on the NMC website. MARB also addressed the code of conduct for assessors and the criteria for their selection.

When discussing the "Communication timelines for assessment," MARB outlined the following:

• Assessors will receive information about the district they will be visiting 48 hours before the assessment date. The randomization software will be supervised directly by MARB.
• The travel agency will be informed of the district name and assessor details 48 hours before the assessment date for travel arrangements.
• The medical college's name will be disclosed to the assessor one day (evening) before the assessment date. However, this information will not be shared with the respective college to maintain secrecy and the element of surprise. Colleges will only be informed about the inspection team's names on the morning of the inspection date.

All assessment work in any or all of the boards or at the level of NMC will be conducted through e-office only, it further stated. 

Regarding the evaluation results and the issuance of the letter of approval, MARB mentioned that it would communicate its decision on permission or otherwise to the eligible entity according to the specified timelines outlined in the annexure. It added that all cases of canceled inspections would be thoroughly documented and promptly reported on the NMC website. In such instances, inspections would be rescheduled following the steps outlined in the guidelines.

In the case of a Show Cause Notice, MARB specified that the concerned college should submit the compliance report within the stipulated time period, and the process of review and final decision will be carried out only upon receipt of such a compliance report.

Regarding the process of filling the application form for various categories of applicants, MARB discussed that the detailed procedure is provided on the NMC website

For information on the mode of payment and the latest fee updates, please refer to the NMC website:

The updated payment fees have been announced by NMC through a public notice dated August 18, 2023 (please refer to annexure 1 of the public notice).

Regarding the stepwise process for accreditation, the NMC Board outlined the various steps involved in accrediting new colleges, renewals, and increases in seats (UG & PG), as well as the recognition process for UG and PG.

For new colleges, renewals, and increases in seats (UG & PG):

It should be noted that all decisions made by MARB will be deliberated in the monthly meeting of the MARB board before February 28, 2024.

For the Recognition Process (UG):

For Recognition Process (PG):

Concerning matters such as sanction and penalty, assessment and rating, redressal, and appeal, the NMC Board has referred to the establishment of Medical Institutions, Assessment & Rating Regulations, 2023.

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