Unique ID now mandatory for doctors; all you need to know about the National Medical Register 

All doctors will have to get a unique identification number (UID) in order to practice medicine in the country, according to a notification by the National Medical Commission (NMC). The ethics board of the NMC will generate the unique ID and grant the practitioner registration and the eligibility to practice medicine in India.  

As per the NMC notification “Regulation of Medical Practitioners and License to Practice Medicine Regulations, 2023, a common national medical register (NMR) will be maintained by the Ethics and Medical Registration Board of the NMC for all the registered medical practitioners in the country.  

The national medical register (NMR) will have entries of the registered medical practitioners of all State registers maintained by the State Medical Councils. It will also have information regarding the medical practitioner such as medical qualification speciality, year of passing, university and the name of the institute(s) from where the qualification(s) was obtained and the place of work (name of hospital/institute). 

The NMR can be accessed by anybody on the NMC’s official website—www.nmc.org.in. The NMR will comprise details such as registration number, name, father’s name, date of registration, place of working (hospital/institution), medical qualification including additional medical qualification, specialty, year of passing, university, and name of the institute(s)/university(s) from where the qualification was obtained.  

The notification also states that the license to practice medicine has to be renewed every 5 years. For this, the practitioner has to submit an application to the State Medical Council. The application seeking renewal of license has to be made three months prior to expiration of the validity of the license.  

The notification further stated: “For the purpose of updating of license of such medical practitioner, no fee shall be charged by EMRB, NMC”.  

Practitioners can also file an appeal with the Ethics and Medical Regulation Board against the State Medical Council’s decision to reject their application for the license to practice or for renewal of license within 30 days of the receipt of such a decision.  

This appeal has to be submitted to the National Medical Commission (NMC) Secretary with the original application submitted with the State Medical Council, copy of the communication received from the State Medical Council, written application arguing the grounds of rejection, and a processing fee in favour of the Secretary, NMC. Following this, the EMRB shall examine the appeal and decide on it within 30 days.  

If the EMRB allows the appeal, it may pass an order for the State Medical Council to grant license to practice to the applicant. This order is binding on the State Medical Council and it shall grant the license to the practitioner within 15 days of the receipt of the EMRB’s order.  

The practitioner can also file a second appeal with the NMC in case their first appeal gets rejected by the EMRB within 60 days of communication regarding the same from the EMRB.  

Also read: 'Bommai didn't learn from Yogi, Himanta': Ex-CEA K Subramanian decodes BJP's defeat in Karnataka

Also watch: Vedanta, HAL, Cipla, Tata Motors, other stocks to watch on May 15, 2023

Also read: Who is new CBI chief Praveen Sood and what’s his history with DK Shivakumar?