MUMBAI: The state medical education department has written to the Union health ministry highlighting the significant difference in standards of institutions offering College of Physicians and Surgeon-affiliated (CPS) courses.

An inspection conducted by the Maharashtra Medical Council last year found “serious lapses” in several such institutes, prompting the department to request the Centre’s opinion on whether counseling for about 1,100 CPS seats can be conducted. Inspired to

However, over 3,000 aspiring medical professionals are in limbo as the counseling for 1,081 seats in CPS courses for 2022-23 academic year is yet to begin, while the Center has conducted NEET-PG for 2023-24. This delay in CPS admissions, which usually happens after the completion of MD/MS rounds, has raised concerns in the medical community as central admissions to postgraduate courses also ended in mid-January.

For three years, admission to CPS courses in Maharashtra is done by the Directorate of Medical Education and Research. On January 13, 2023, the Union Ministry issued a letter to the states asking them to start the admission process for CPS courses.

Medical Education Secretary Ashwini Joshi wrote to the Union Health Ministry that the MMC has inspected some hospitals running CPS courses in January. 120 hospitals were visited; 2 institutes found non-operational; 74 refused the inspection; And in 44, where inspections were conducted, the teams found serious deficiencies in terms of infrastructure and faculty, which were in violation of the NMC Minimum Standard Requirement (MSR), the report said.

Dr Joshi in his letter underlined that admission of students in such institutions would be detrimental to their career and health system. “Therefore you are requested to provide further guidance,” the letter said. Sources told TOI that the state has also sent a reminder to the Centre. “How can we start the counseling process until the Centre’s guidance comes?” said an official.

But CPS president Dr Girish Mandarkar said he was not informed about the inspection and the institute had received information on the state’s letter through social media. “If anything is wrong with the affiliated institutions, as the chairman of the CPS, I should have known. Also, the MMC being a registering body, I am not sure it can act as a regulatory body and Can inspect our institutions.” They said.

He said that the council should also be told about the shortcomings. “MSR for DNB (Diplomate of National Board) and CPS institutes are different from MSR for medical colleges affiliated to universities. The teachers inspecting CPS institutes are from medical colleges and if we see the reports we will understand that the inspection was fair, ” Doctor. Mandarkar. CPS has written to the state twice since January asking them to start the admission process.

Adding to this confusion are CPS aspirants from Maharashtra who said that CPS admissions have started in other states like Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Candidates who were waiting for this year’s counseling process did not even register for NEET-PG 2023 assuming that they will get Diploma seat in the current year.