50 thousand doctors trained in AI, 20 Lakhs in CPR: NMC chairperson on India’s medical education
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Addressing the 2nd ICC Medical Education Forum, organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in association with the Medical Students Association of India (MSAI), Dr Abhijat Chandrakant Seth, Chairperson of the National Medical Commission, said India now has more than 820 medical colleges and that the country’s responsibility now is to raise standards, not simply add numbers.
“The ultimate measure of our success will not be how many doctors we are going to create, but what kind of doctors we are going to create, who will be serving the society,” Dr Seth said. “We cannot create a two-tier medical education system, where students in some institutions have access to excellent faculty, rich medical material, simulation facilities and research opportunities, while other students receive significantly fewer opportunities.”
On artificial intelligence, he said, “Modern education must prepare students not merely to use AI, but to understand it as well. AI should never replace professional responsibility and accountability. The doctor must remain accountable for decisions made in the care of patients. That is where technology ends and humanity begins.” He cited NBEMS data showing close to 50,000 doctors have completed structured online AI training in 2026, and that the board’s CPR programme reached approximately 20 lakh healthcare professionals in 2023.
Dr T. Dileep Kumar, President of the Indian Nursing Council (INC), spoke about the Council’s work building simulation-based nursing education, drawing a comparison with pilot training.
“The passenger’s safety is in the hands of the pilot. The pilot is generally trained through simulators, and we, the doctors and nurses, are responsible for patient safety,” Dr Kumar said. He cited a National Council of State Boards of Nursing study showing up to 50 percent of a BSc Nursing curriculum can be taught through simulation, and described how the INC, with Jhpiego, Laerdal Medical India and SGT University, Gurugram, built India’s first National Reference Simulation Centre, followed by a second at the Sajjalashree Institute of Nursing Sciences, Bagalkot.
“Hardware is very easy to get. By spending the money, you can get the hardware. But software is very important. What is software? Software is the teachers, the faculty, and they need to be trained to integrate simulation as a method of teaching. It is a big challenge,” Dr Kumar said.
Dr Richa S Debgupta, Co-Chair of the ICC National Healthcare Committee and Executive Vice President at Fortis Hospitals, said the forum’s theme, “Excellence in Medical Education, beams with Quality,” reflected the moment healthcare is in. “While medicine evolves, one thing must remain constant, the quality of the healthcare professional we prepare. Medical education must therefore go beyond knowledge. It must build competence, judgment, compassion, curiosity, and character,” Dr Debgupta said.
Dr Chaitra B.A., President, Medical Students Association of India brought the student perspective to the forum, opening with an account of exhaustion during internship postings. “A larger workforce doesn’t necessarily mean a stronger workforce. We have to ask where these professionals are going, what conditions they are working in, whether they are adequately trained, whether they can afford to stay in the system,” Dr Chaitra said, citing MSAI’s policy paper on human resources for health.
On AI, she said, “The question is not whether AI belongs in medicine, it already does. The question is whether our medical education is preparing students to use it responsibly.” She called for students to have a more direct role in curriculum design and assessment, adding, “Exhaustion is not a competency, and burnout should definitely not be a workforce strategy.”
Dr Ritika Sud, Professor of Medicine, Lady Hardinge Medical College walked participants through the shift to Competency Based Medical Education (CBME), introduced nationally in 2019. “It was a very subject-oriented, teacher-oriented curriculum where there was more emphasis on rote learning, memorising facts over application. There was no structured early clinical exposure,” Dr Sud said of the earlier system.
