The academic calendar for the current batch of undergraduate medical students (2021-22) will be three months shorter, due to the delay in admissions this year, announces National Medical Commission (NMC). As per the declaration made by NMC on the official website — nmc.org.in — the academic session for MBBS will begin on February 14 and conclude in June 2027, including the compulsory internship.

NMC has made it clear that despite the delay in admissions this year, “the academic curriculum for undergraduate courses shall be completed within the stipulated time as prescribed in the regulations,” the official notification stated.

To make sure that the quantity and quality of curriculum is not compromised, NMC has decided that foundation courses will be taught after normal teaching hours, or on weekends and holidays. “Foundation course will be covered after usual teaching hours or on weekends/holidays. Thus, the first professional (year) has been compressed to eleven months instead of thirteen. Vacations have also been curtailed during first, second and third professionals by one month. Therefore, each professional phase of training has been compressed by one month only,” the NMC notification read.

This change has been caused due to the delay in admissions this year. The NEET-UG 2021 exams were to be conducted in May 2021 but finally happened in September. After that, first round of seat allotment in the state was announced by the state common entrance test (CET) cell on February 1.