New Delhi: The National Medical Commission (NMC) will end admissions to PG diploma courses after 2026-27 academic year and convert existing seats into MD/MS programmes, aiming to bring all specialist medical training under a single degree framework, reports Anuja Jaiswal.NMC on Monday directed all medical colleges and institutions offering PG diploma courses to apply for conversion of these seats into corresponding MD/MS seats through the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB).The move is expected to affect diploma seats across specialties such as child health, obstetrics and gynaecology, anaesthesia, ophthalmology, psychiatry and public health currently offered by medical colleges. According to NMC, several institutions currently run both diploma and degree programmes in the same specialty, while others offer only diploma courses despite having the infrastructure, faculty and clinical material required for degree programmes.

The regulator said converting diploma seats into MD/MS seats would help standardise postgraduate training, improve the quality and recognition of specialist qualifications and make better use of existing institutional capacity.MARB president Prof M K Ramesh said diploma courses have increasingly become redundant, often putting diploma holders at disadvantage. Originally meant to train specialists for district and subdistrict facilities, diploma courses have lost relevance as degree-qualified specialists are available at those levels.He said diploma holders face limited career growth, are generally ineligible for teaching positions and promotions, often leaving them at a disadvantage compared to MD/MS graduates. With no new diploma seats sanctioned for years and only about 400 seats remaining in a few specialties, maintaining a parallel diploma stream serves little purpose, he added.The decision follows provisions incorporated in Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023, which state that no new applications for starting or increasing diploma seats would be allowed and that institutions may instead seek conversion of diploma seats into degree seats.Medical education experts said the move was to increase the pool of doctors holding recognised specialist degrees, though states and colleges will need to ensure a smooth transition so that training capacity is not disrupted during conversion process.