The Travancore-Cochin Medical Councils (TCMC) has issued a circular that all medical students who have secured admission for postgraduate medical studies, including DNB (Diplomate of National Board) courses, in any institution in Kerala should obtain permanent registration with the TCMC within a period of one month from the date of admission, failing which the PG admission will be cancelled.
It has pointed out that most students are at present seeking registration with the TCMC after completing their PG course and this is a violation of the Postgraduate Medical Education Regulations, 2000 of the Medical Council of India and the Travancore-Cochin Medical Practitioners Act, 1953.
However, objections have now been raised that the TCMC is misquoting or misinterpreting the Postgraduate Medical Education Regulations, 2000, which states that registration with any State medical council will suffice for students seeking admission to PG medical courses. What Section 8(3) of the Postgraduate Medical Education Regulations, 2000 says is that “every student selected for admission to PG medical course in any of the medical institutions... should have obtained permanent registration with the MCI or any of the State medical councils... within a period of one month from the date of admission...”
As the statutory body in the State in charge of maintaining uniform standards of medical education and the ethics of medical practice, the TCMC should not be misquoting or misinterpreting existing regulations, says K.V. Babu, a physician and public health activist.
He points out that when the PG Medical Education Regulations clearly states that registration with any State medical council is enough for students seeking PG medical studies, the TCMC is creating unnecessary issues by insisting that all students seeking PG medical studies in Kerala should get registered with the TCMC.
There are several students from other States who come to Kerala for PG studies and while they would have registered at their respective State medical council, the TCMC’s insistence that they should again seek permanent registration with the TCMC is vexatious, he claims.
However, Registrar of the TCMC A. Muhammed Hussain chooses to disagree.
“The State law says that anyone practising medicine here should seek registration from the State medical council. PG medical training should be considered as medical practice itself as these students would be fully engaged in the treatment of patients here. Hence, the TCMC is particular that any student of modern medicine seeking PG studies in Kerala should be registered under the State medical council,” says Mr. Hussain.
The State medical council should have regulatory powers over anyone practising medicine or PG studies in the State. In the event of any complaint or for the students to be issued certificate of good standing, registration with the TCMC is a must, he says.
