Unique ID for doctors, common medical register under new govt rules

Doctors in India must get a Unique Identification Number (UID) to practise medicine.

This forms part of new regulations issued by the National Medical Commission (NMC), media reports said.

The UID will be generated centrally by the NMC Ethics Board and it will grant the practitioner eligibility to practise medicine in the country.

There will be a common national medical register for all the registered medical practitioners. It will be maintained by the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) under the NMC.

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This register will contain all the entries of registered medical practitioners of all state registers maintained by various State Medical Councils and will have relevant information regarding the medical practitioner.

The licence to practise medicine will be valid for five years, after which the medical practitioner must renew it by submitting an application to the State Medical Council.

The application for renewal of licence may be made three months before expiry of the validity of the licence, the new regulation says.

(With agency inputs)