200 Beds In Hospital, 75% Occupancy: New Guidelines For Postgraduate Courses Released

Hospitals planning to start postgraduate medical courses must maintain a minimum number of 200 beds, with 75 per cent of these continuously occupied by patients throughout the year, according to the draft minimum standard of requirements for such facilities released by the National Medical Commission (NMC). Additionally, the guidelines say that at least 15 per cent of the beds within departments offering postgraduate training should be dedicated to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or High Dependency Unit (HDU) beds exclusively for that department.

The guidelines made it clear that all hospitals offering postgraduate medical courses must have four functional departments: Biochemistry, pathology, microbiology, and radio diagnosis. The NMC has sought public comments on the guidelines until September 15.

 As the number of beds in these hospitals increases, there should be a corresponding increase in faculty, infrastructure, and staff for subjects like radiodiagnosis, anesthesia, pathology, microbiology, and biochemistry. If a department experiences a higher workload, the faculty and infrastructure should be adjusted accordingly.

Furthermore, each department should have the necessary in-house equipment to meet curriculum requirements, operated and managed by the respective department for the training of postgraduate students.

According to the draft guidelines, the daily outpatient attendance should not fall below 50 in departments such as general medicine, general surgery, pediatrics, orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology, respiratory medicine, ophthalmology, dermatology, psychiatry, emergency medicine, and family medicine. In other clinical specialties and super specialties, the daily outpatient attendance should be at least 25.

For postgraduate students pursuing surgical courses, there are specific provisions. They should receive operation theater training for a minimum of two full days per week during their initial year, progressing to two full days per week as first assistants or under supervision in subsequent years, as indicated in the guidelines. Each faculty member is preferably allotted two full days for independent operation table use, with or without supervision. Every unit should perform a minimum of three major and six minor surgeries on their designated operation day.

The institution must have adequate in-house laboratory and imaging facilities for the training of postgraduate students. These facilities should be fully run and governed by the respective departments. The institution is required to maintain digital records of investigations conducted across various departments and laboratories, as outlined in the draft guidelines. Specifically, the institution should aim for a minimum of 15 per cent of the total daily Outpatient Department (OPD) workload to consist of biochemical investigations and a minimum of five per cent to comprise microbiological investigations, as per the guidelines.