Overview
- The National Medical Commission has declared the 2026–27 academic year the final cycle for admissions to PG diploma medical courses and said no new diploma admissions will be allowed from 2027–28 onward.
- Colleges may seek conversion of existing diploma seats into corresponding MD or MS seats by applying to the Medical Assessment and Rating Board through a dedicated online portal that the NMC says it will open with detailed timelines.
- The NMC and its Postgraduate Medical Education Board cited a desire to standardize specialist training, improve recognition of qualifications, and make fuller use of institutional faculty and clinical resources as the main reasons for the shift.
- Experts warn the transition could disrupt short-term specialist supply because diploma programmes have long supplied doctors to smaller and underserved hospitals, and conversion approvals will be conditional on institutions meeting NMC infrastructure and faculty standards.
- The move builds on the Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023, and the regulator has asked colleges to start conversion formalities while promising specific application steps and schedules from MARB soon.