Central portal creates hurdles for MBBS doctors

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: MBBS doctors planning to practise in the state may encounter delays, as the Kerala State Medical Council (KSMC) might suspend its registration process due to the launch of the new National Medical Register (NMR) Portal by the National Medical Commission (NMC) on Friday.

All new registrations will now need to be submitted through this central portal, with the state council responsible for authentication.

The transition could be confusing, particularly for those who have already applied, due to the lack of clear guidelines.

“The portal will be fully operational after a trial run. New registrations must be submitted through the portal, and we cannot accept applications until we receive official instructions from the NMC. There could be people who applied on Friday as well. We also have to get direction on the applications which are already processed by the KSMC,” said Dr Harikumaran Nair G S, president ( Modern Medicine), Kerala State Medical Council (KSMC).

The council is apprehensive of new applications as the fee for application is also likely to be standardised across the country. The application to the NMR shall be made using the Aadhaar ID. A one-time password (OTP) generated on the phone linked to the aadhar ID will be used for login.

The applicant can upload the digital copy of the Degree (MBBS) Certificate.

Doctors are also worried about the transition from the Indian Medical Register (IMR), a registry used by the Medical Council of India, the predecessor of NMC.