New Delhi: The Association of National Board of Accredited Institutions (ANBAI), a network of private hospitals awarding Diplomate National Board (DNB) degrees, wants the central government to help fund stipends for specialists.
The request comes amid efforts to increase the number of DNB holders in the country and address their shortage. There are currently about 10,000 DNB seats in India, which are provided by the Central Government. wants to increase up to 20,000.
ANBA sent its request Health Ministry and NITI Aayog in June, and claims to await their response.
Awarded by the National Board of Examinations (NBE), a DNB degree is equivalent to a postgraduate degree (MD/MS). Specializations for DNB residents include study in the disciplines of Cardiac Anesthesia, Critical Care Medicine and Cardiology.
In addition to NEET PG, candidates willing to pursue this course will also have to appear for DNB Common Entrance Test.
majority Some of the DNB seats are reportedly in large private hospitals, while some are offered by government district hospitals.
In its letter to Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, ANBAI asked for subsidizing the stipend of DNB residents.
The letter said, “As you are aware, this is the main reason for limiting the number of seats for hospitals, and it is one of the main reasons for introducing new courses and increasing the number of students and later specialists even in smaller hospitals.” Will go a long way.”
ThePrint reached out to Dr. VK Paul over messages and calls, but did not get revert. ThePrint also reached out to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) over email, but did not receive a response till the time of publication. This report will be updated upon receipt of feedback.
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DNB cost to hospitals
Dr. Alexander Thomas, Former President, ANBAI said that the DNB residents are talented specialists and while their presence brings immense benefits to the hospitals, their cost to the organization is high.
“With the government bringing in several subsidies and insurance schemes, the revenue of private hospitals has come down drastically. Keeping this in mind, the cost of hiring an increased number of specialist resident doctors is a huge expense, which is difficult to meet,” he said.
Thomas said private hospitals will have to pay DNB at par with government resident doctors.
“In places like Delhi, where the salaries of residents range from Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh, it is difficult for private hospitals to stay in large numbers,” he said, adding that a reply to his letter is still awaited.
An Ahmedabad-based doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that DNBs were earlier “not seen on par with PG doctors”.
“However, in the last few years, with the improvement in training, they have now qualified better. But their earnings on admission to private hospitals are less as compared to UG/PG doctors,” said the doctor.
(Edited by Amritansh Arora)
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