A medical education more inclusive

The real test of the revised guidelines will lie in their implementation. 2 min readJul 30, 2026 06:05 AM IST First published on: Jul 30, 2026 at 06:05 AM IST The National Medical Commission’s (NMC) revised guidelines for admitting persons with disabilities to undergraduate medical courses mark an overdue shift towards making medical education more inclusive. Issued on Monday, the new benchmark stipulates that a candidate’s eligibility for the MBBS course will be based on a functional assessment rather than merely a certificate recording the disability. Designated medical boards will carry out evaluations. The message is significant: Disability, by itself, should not be treated as a disqualification. What matters is whether an aspiring doctor can acquire the competencies necessary to pract