NMC specifies bed strength, mandatory depts for standalone PG institutes, details

New Delhi: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has laid down requirements for standalone postgraduate medical colleges under the amended Minimum Standards of Requirements for Post Graduate Courses 2023 (PGMSR 2023).

As per the guidelines, post-graduate medical colleges or institutes established under Section 3.1(iii) of PGMER-2023, which refers to standalone postgraduate medical institutions, must have at least 220 beds in their associated hospital.

The regulations also require such institutes to have mandatory functional departments. These include Biochemistry, Pathology, Microbiology, and Radio-Diagnosis. In addition, Anaesthesiology must also be available in institutes where surgical specialties are being offered.

Further, the document states that these postgraduate medical colleges or institutions must also ensure the availability of teaching facilities for basic science subjects, as required for postgraduate medical education.

These conditions have been specified by the Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) of the Commission in the recently released revised Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations (PGMSR) 2023. The Commission asked all medical colleges and institutions across the country to comply with the updated rules with immediate effect.

Issuing a public notice on 11.03.2026, the PGMEB informed that the standards for running postgraduate medical courses have now been amended as of February 20, 2026. These norms define the minimum requirements that institutions must meet to start and run PG medical programmes in the country.

The document included the mandatory requirements for a PG medical institute to start a PG medical course, the clinical material/investigation workload required for post-graduate, the ratio of eligible post-graduate faculty to the number of students, the number of minimum and maximum beds in a Unit, the faculty and senior resident requirements for the number of PG seats in different specialities, and the list of functional departments mandatory in a specific medical college etc.

The first version of PGMSR-2023 was issued by the National Medical Commission on 16 January, 2024 through a Public Notice. Subsequently, the standards were revised and updated through amendments issued on 23 August, 2024 and 14 January, 2025. These amendments were carried out to update or clarify certain requirements related to postgraduate medical education.

Now, based on the need for further updates, the PGMEB issued another amendment to PGMSR-2023. "These latest amendments will come into force immediately, and all concerned institutions are required to follow the updated requirements from that date onwards," mentioned the notice.

To view the PGMSR 2023 notice, click on the link below:

Also read- NMC amends Minimum Standard Requirements for running PG medical courses, here are key takeaways