23rd NBEMS Convocation: Union Health Minister Launches 11 New Medical Course

The landscape of postgraduate medical education in India is undergoing a significant expansion. During the 23rd Convocation Ceremony of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) held in New Delhi, Union Health Minister Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda officially launched 11 new academic courses aimed at strengthening specialized healthcare delivery across the country.

Expanding Specialized Healthcare

Addressing the 26,396 newly graduated specialists (who were conferred DNB, DrNB, Diploma, and FNB qualifications), Minister J.P. Nadda highlighted that the 11 newly launched academic programs will directly contribute to enhancing patient care and fulfilling the growing need for super-specialty medical services. He urged the young doctors to focus not only on curative care but to pivot the healthcare system toward preventive and promotive healthcare models, especially given the rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Showcasing the government’s aggressive push to expand medical infrastructure, the Union Health Minister shared updated statistics: the total number of medical colleges in India has surged from 387 to a record 818. Consequently, undergraduate (MBBS) seats have risen to nearly 1.28 lakh, while postgraduate seats have seen a massive jump from 31,000 to nearly 85,000. He also reiterated the Prime Minister’s goal to add 75,000 more UG and PG seats over the next five years.

The Newly launched courses

Here are the 11 new DNB, Diploma, FNB, and DrNB academic programmes officially introduced by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) during its 23rd Convocation:

• DrNB Paediatric Haemato-Oncology  

• FNB Paediatric Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology  

• FNB Upper GI Surgery  

• DNB Trauma and Acute Care Surgery  

• FNB Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery  

• Diploma in Nuclear Medicine  

• DrNB Head and Neck Oncology  

• DrNB Pulmonary Medicine  

• FNB Allergy, Asthma and Applied Immunology  

• FNB Interventional Pulmonology  

• FNB Breast Surgery  

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The “One Nation, One Subscription” Initiative

Another major highlight of the convocation was the formal appreciation of the “One Nation One Subscription” (ONOS) initiative. Successfully implemented across institutions running NBEMS courses, ONOS provides students, faculty, and researchers nationwide with equitable, barrier-free access to high-impact international scholarly research articles and academic journals. This move is expected to drastically strengthen the research ecosystem and clinical writing within Indian medical education.