The National Medical Commission has ended postgraduate diploma courses in medicine. Its notice sets 2026-2027 as the final year for new admissions, with no fresh entries allowed from 2027-2028. Current seats will convert to MD or MS specialty positions. This step closes a medical training route that operated in India for nearly a century.
Modern medical education began under colonial rule, focused first on company staff, troops, and officials. Ordinary citizens gained access later, mainly when disease threatened labor or public order. Universities in Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras offered medical courses from 1857, though standards varied by region.
Pre-independence planning produced the National Planning Committee in 1938. Its health subcommittee, led by Colonel S. S. Sokhey, called for state-funded health services and postgraduate diplomas after set periods of study and hospital work. Further research could lead to doctorates, with emphasis on public health and rural care.
The 1943 Bhore Committee, still under colonial authority, highlighted weak postgraduate facilities in most universities. Only Madras offered structured diploma training in obstetrics, gynecology, and ophthalmology. Other diplomas covered tuberculosis, radiology, and laboratory work. Bhore proposed two tracks: full MD or MS degrees for specialists and shorter diplomas for practitioners needing specific skills. The committee urged a central body to maintain standards.
The 1959 Mudaliar Committee reviewed progress and stressed better district hospitals with specialist support. Diploma holders filled key roles in secondary care at district, mission, and taluk facilities where full medical colleges were absent.
