Three months of rural residency compulsory for PG medical students

Hyderabad: Postgraduate students of all Medical Colleges have to undergo a compulsory residency for three months in rural areas.

This follows the implementation of ‘Post-graduate Medical Education (Amendment) Regulations, 2020’ from September 18.

The 2020-2021 batch of PG medical students will be the first to serve in rural areas as part of their course curriculum under the 'District Residency Programme’.

“District Hospitals represent multi-speciality facilities providing comprehensive secondary level care. These facilities are a major source of health services for the people,” the Gazette Notification of the government states.

The students have to serve in rural areas on a rotational basis in the third, fourth, or fifth semesters of the postgraduate programme. During this rotation, the resident will be posted with the concerned speciality team at the District Hospital and will be trained under specialists.

District Residents will continue to draw a full stipend or salary from their respective medical colleges for the duration of the rotation. They will be allowed to have one weekly holiday by rotation. They shall also be entitled to leave benefits as per the guidelines of the parent college.

“The main objectives of the District Residency Programme is to expose the postgraduate student to the district health system to acquaint them with the planning, implementation, monitoring, and assessment of outcomes of the National Health programmes at the district level and to orient them to promotive, preventive, curative, and rehabilitative services being provided by various categories of healthcare professionals under the umbrella of National Health Mission,” the Gazette Notification of the government states.