To initiate this, the country’s apex medical education regulator— the National Medical Commission—has tied up with Quality Council of India (QCI) and will start the rating assessment from the next session.

The activity will be carried out under “Establishment of Medical Institutions, Assessment and Rating Regulations, 2023″ which states to conduct assessments and ratings of medical colleges under the government platform.

This comes in the backdrop of credibility issues faced by some private medical colleges, given that their ratings are done by private organizations.

Once the government ratings are in public domain, it will not only help students in choosing the right medical college but will also help in stemming the practice of private medical colleges charging high fees.

The experts from NMC and QCI will carry out surprise inspection in the medical colleges to ascertain whether these colleges are following government regulations and offering quality education among other metrics.

“Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) of the NMC has signed a MoU with Quality Council of India (QCI) for the purpose of assessment of rating the medical colleges wherein QCI will provide third party assessment of both private and government medical colleges,” said the official aware of the matter.

This collaboration will ensure the highest quality medical education and services offered by the medical colleges. This is for the first time, there will be an assessment process of medical colleges to rank them which aims to bring transparency, accountability, and adherence to high standards in the medical education ecosystem,” said the official.

Until now, only All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is known for its world class medical education in the country. However, there are multiple claims for in the private sector as top medical college.

Queries sent to the health ministry remained answered till press time.

MARB is responsible for carrying out inspections for granting permission for establishment of new medical college, increase of MBBS/PG/Super-speciality seats, renewal of permission for existing medical colleges, carries of surprise inspection in the medical colleges from time to time.

Since 2014, there has been a significant increase in the number of medical colleges in the country. According to the government figures, there has been a 70% increase in the number of medical colleges, from 387 before 2014 to 704 as of now.

Updated: 10 Jul 2023, 01:11 PM IST