Shorter MBBS course on the cards

MCI recommends 5-yr course instead of 5.5

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

Wants teaching duration down from 4.5 to 4 yrs; clinical training from year 1 instead of year 2; ethics and family medicine to be mandatory to MBBS curriculum

Major reform proposals  Family medicine or Generalist Practice of Medicine to be made an essential UG subject  In radiology, age old dark room technology for processing of X Ray films must be replaced by digital technology (computed radiography or direct digital technology); earlier Image intensifier systems for fluoroscopy should be replaced by radio-fluoroscopy equipment; and CT scans should be at least 16 slices or higher.  In Pharmacology, training will have to be focused on clinical skills like dose calculation and administering the drugs through various routes,  Experimental pharmacology practical in animals will require to be replaced by modern techniques using videos and simulations.