New Delhi: India’s medical education system is undergoing a major transformation, but expansion must be thoughtful, strategic, and equitable, said Dr. B.N. Gangadhar, Chairman of the National Medical Commission (NMC), at a high-level policy dialogue hosted by the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP).
In a comprehensive address, Dr. Gangadhar outlined the challenges and opportunities shaping medical education and workforce development in India. He highlighted a significant surge in medical education proposals this year, with 95 applications received by the NMC — 30 from government colleges and 60 from private institutions seeking to expand undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) seats.
“Around 120 private colleges have applied to increase their UG seats, compared to only 40 government colleges,” he noted. “This shows where the incentives lie and reflects evolving trends in medical education investment.”
Dr. Gangadhar acknowledged that recent regulatory relaxations by the NMC, aimed at easing the establishment of medical colleges, have made medical education more financially viable. However, he cautioned that this must not come at the cost of educational quality or lead to regional disparities.
He pointed out discrepancies between infrastructure and utilization — for instance, some government medical colleges have up to 7,000 hospital beds but are capped at 250 MBBS seats, despite having the capacity to train more students. Conversely, private colleges have been more aggressive in reaching the upper threshold for student intake, indicating untapped potential in the public sector.
The PG Bottleneck and Mental Health Concerns
A recurring challenge, Dr. Gangadhar said, is the mismatch between UG and PG seats. While India has over 1 lakh MBBS seats, PG capacity continues to lag far behind, creating a backlog and contributing to mental health stress among medical residents.
“In many institutions, postgraduate training continues with the same limited number of faculty, despite managing significantly higher patient loads,” he said. “This leads to overworked residents and compromises both training and patient care.”
He emphasized that faculty shortages, especially in government medical colleges running large hospitals, limit PG expansion and strain residency programs.
“We need to utilise all available beds and optimize clinical services for PG training. This would ease workloads, enhance patient care, and address faculty constraints.”
Dr. Gangadhar also stressed the importance of focusing on educational outcomes, not just infrastructure or admissions.
“The real question is not just how many we train, but how well we train them. An exit exam is one way to assess the ‘product’ of medical education, but we also need better teaching, more committed faculty, and modernized college infrastructure.”
He warned against indiscriminately expanding PG seats without corresponding demand or planning. India currently receives over 25 lakh applications for just 1 lakh MBBS seats, with a 3:1 candidate-to-seat ratio at the eligibility stage. Dr. Gangadhar noted that while India’s selection system is competitive, better alignment between entrance performance, faculty capacity, and hands-on training is crucial to building a competent medical workforce.
“Medical education must evolve with a clear vision — blending scale with standards, and access with accountability,” concluded Dr. Gangadhar, calling for collaborative efforts between public and private sectors to future-proof India’s healthcare system.
