NMC increases postgraduate medical education seats in India to 68,305

More than 42,000 aspiring doctors are scheduled to participate in the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) this Saturday.

According to information from New Delhi, over 42,000 foreign medical graduates will take the FMGE exam on Saturday. To monitor the conduct of this examination across the country, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has deployed more than 4,500 staff members and organized a central command center for process monitoring.

The workspace provider 91Springboard announced on Tuesday the launch of five new hubs in three key regions: Chennai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), and National Capital Region (NCR). As part of this expansion, the company will add over 360 thousand square feet of workspace and more than 8000 jobs to its national portfolio.

Anshu Sarin, CEO of 91Springboard, told Business Standard that when entering a new city, the company will adopt a density approach, focusing on key micro-markets. This will allow for a better understanding of the market, identification of necessary pricing levels, and product types.

She specified that the company plans to enter the next market only after establishing a 'sufficiently significant presence' in that market, which will provide both economies of scale and choice for clients.

The largest addition within the expansion is in Thane, where a premium workspace of 195 thousand square feet will be located in Centaurus, Hiranandani Avenue. In Chennai, the company is increasing its space by approximately 135 thousand square feet, distributed across two locations: Mindspace Commerzone in Pallikaranai and Arihant Vaayu in Perungudi.

Sarin also stated plans to strengthen the company's position in three cities—Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune—over the next six months. Regarding entry into second-tier markets, she noted that after strengthening its presence in these three cities over six to eight months, the company will accelerate its penetration into second-tier cities, and such opportunities are already being assessed.

Currently, 60 percent of the company's revenue is generated by large enterprises, including Global Capability Centers (GCCs), while Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and startups account for the remaining 40 percent. Speaking about the potential IPO timeline, Sarin indicated that the company will work towards reaching the necessary size over the next two to four years before going public.

After obtaining a medical degree, it is necessary to acquire specialization in a specific area of diseases besides treating patients. However, due to the shortage of seats in residency programs, many doctors cannot enroll in their desired courses. In this regard, there is good news for students of medical universities in Himachal Pradesh: the central government has approved a proposal to increase by 320 additional residency seats in six colleges of the state.

A grant of approximately ₹415 crore has been allocated to implement this project. This information was shared by the Minister of Health and Family Welfare of the Central Government, J.P. Nadda. This decision will provide doctors who have completed medical education with more opportunities to obtain specialized training, and it will also help improve the availability of specialists in the state's government hospitals.

According to J.P. Nadda's statement, the distribution of these seats among the six medical colleges is as follows: Hamirpur will see an increase of 57 seats, Chamba by 28 seats, Mandi by 55 seats, Nahan by 32 seats, Shimla by 91 seats, and Tanda by 57 seats. In total, 320 additional residency seats will be available across all these colleges, with the largest increase—91 seats—allocated to Indira Gandhi Medical College in Shimla.

In his statement, J.P. Nadda also appealed to the Himachal Pradesh government to expedite the necessary procedures to launch these seats. He clarified that the proposal from the state government was received on June 23. Furthermore, the issue was discussed with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu during the convocation ceremony at AIIMS Bilaspur on October 6.

The increase in residency seats is significant as it expands opportunities for pursuing MD and MS specializations after completing MBBS. This contributes to the growth of medical education potential in the state's colleges. In the long term, improving the availability of specialists will benefit the patients themselves. According to media reports, the total number of residency seats in the six government medical colleges of Himachal Pradesh was initially 277, and it has now been increased to 597.