MBBS course to be longer by a year

A one-year stint in India’s most backward villages will become compulsory for all MBBS students from the next academic session.The Union health and family welfare ministry has decided to amend the Medical Council of India (MCI) Act that would make the undergraduate MBBS course six-and-a-half years long instead of the present five-and-a-half years.The last year of the course will be spent by students in serving patients in rural India. They will have to spend four months each in a public health centre, community health cell and district headquarters.They will be based at the district headquarters and will serve under the district health officer. Only on completion of the village stint will the graduates be allowed to practice. The doctors will be given a monthly stipend of Rs 8,000-Rs 10,000 as an incentive to work in these areas.