College of Physicians & Surgeons of Mumbai

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College of Physicians & Surgeons of Mumbai or CPS Mumbai or CPS Bombay, established in 1912, is an autonomous body imparting Postgraduate Medical Education and offers 10 Fellowship & 17 Diploma Courses. It is located in Mumbai near KEM Hospital and it caters to doctors from all over India. The qualifications granted by CPS Mumbai allow the Practitioner to register themselves as specialists in the specialty concerned, upon duly completing the tenure of 2 years Diploma or 3 years Fellowship and passing the prescribed exit examination.

In 1912, through its Governor, the British Government permitted to establish a Postgraduate Medical Institution in accordance with the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Dr. Rajab Ali Patel agreed to establish such a college by dropping the prefix 'Royal'. Hence the birth of the institution "College of Physicians and Surgeons", now popularly known as CPS. Initially, it was registered under the Bombay Society Act of 1860 in March 1913. Established as a sister institute to the Royal College of Surgeons in London, which dates back to the 14th century, CPS functions as an examining body and provides affiliations to different district and private hospitals and medical colleges.

CPS Mumbai has been offering various fellowship and diploma courses at the postgraduate level to meet the shortage of specialist doctors in India. It is the only examining body besides the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to have been recognized by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to impart postgraduate medical education.

The College was recognised until July 2024 to grant specialist qualifications (Fellowship & Diploma) in the specialties of Medicine, Surgery, Midwifery & Gynaecology, Dermatology, Pathology, Ophthalmology and Child Health which were recognised by the National Medical Commission of India. For a brief period between 2017 and 2018, it granted specialist qualifications (Diploma) in other specialties such as Orthopaedics, Anaesthesiology, Radiology & Electrology, Public Health, Tuberculosis Diseases, Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Pschycological Medicine, Transfusion Medicine and Family Planning which were recognised nationally by the National Medical Commission of India.

At its peak, it had around 1,600 doctors pursuing specialization under its ambit. CPS is said to have granted almost 45,000 doctors over its 110-year history with diploma or fellowship qualifications allowing them to register themselves as specialists. Currently, CPS Mumbai is recognised by various State Governments of India to grant specialist qualifications with validity confined to only those states or union territories.

On 21 April 1912, a committee meeting was called to discuss the proposal in forming a college. The proposal was put to the vote and passed unanimously. It was also decided that college should function as a Registered Society. Therefore, steps were taken to register it under Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860, and documents were signed to that effect on 4 March 1913.

Surgeon General H W. Stevenson was unanimously elected as founder president, while Dr. Temulji B. Nariman and Col. C. H. L. Meyer were elected as vice-presidents. The college committee converted itself into the first Council of the college. Then the constitution was drafted and passed unanimously.

CPS is situated in the prime locality of Mumbai near KEM Hospital, Parel, and its office comprises an area of approximately 80,000 sq. feet in a five-storied building having different departments. The CPS has four lecture halls and four examination halls, which accommodates approximately 500 students.

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Mumbai offers 3-year fellowship and 2-year diploma courses. Both courses are full-time stipendiary hospital positions allowing the holder an entry onto the specialist register.

Various fellowship courses offered by CPS (3-year Specialist Training Course)

Various Diploma Courses offered by CPS (2-year Specialist Training Course)

Certificate Courses: These were 1-year training programmes designed to be imparted at post MBBS level. They were recognised as specialist medical qualifications by the Gujarat Medical Council. However, no post MBBS certificate course was recognised by National Medical Commission/Medical Council of India as a specialist qualification. Enrollment into the Certificate Courses has ceased since 2019.

Various Diploma, Fellowship and Certificate Courses are recognised by different Indian States which allow the holders to practice as specialists in those states, namely

1. Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) vide GR Extraordinary 4-B dated 15 March 2010 through notification no. PGM.1010/CR-18 (Part 2)/ 10/EDU-2 read with the MMC Act 1965. The qualifications are recognised only for candidates possessing CPS qualifications when granted either before 14 July, 2023; or if enrolled before 14 July 2023. All non NMC recognised CPS qualifications are not valid in the state of Maharashtra if enrolled after 14 July 2023.

2. Gujarat Medical Council (GMC) vide GR no. MCG/10/2011/460646/J dated 26 August 2011, provided the candidate is a domicile of the State of Gujarat.

3. Rajasthan Medical Council (RMC) since 2016, provided the entire course of Diploma or Fellowship is completed within the state of Rajasthan. The state ceased any new admissions after 2018.

4. Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.

Such recognition has sometimes been controversial.^[1][2][3][4]

MCPS, FCPS (Medicine), FCPS (Surgery), FCPS (Midwifery & Gynaecology), FCPS (Ophthalmology), FCPS (Dermatology & Venereology), FCPS (Pathology), DGO, DCH and DPB qualifications granted by College of Physicians and Surgeons of Mumbai were recognised since its Inception in 1913. However, in December 2009, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare derecognised qualifications granted by the College of Physicians and Surgeons owing to a lack of infrastructure and faculty required to run the courses.^[5]

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi (MoHFW) in the Notification dated October 17, 2017, recognised all the PG diploma courses (DGO, DCH, DPB, D.ORTHO, DMRE, DDV, DTMH, DOMS, DA, TDD, DORL, DGM, DGS, DFP, DPM, DTM, DFP, DEME along with Super-speciality Diploma Courses) offered by the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Mumbai after an extensive review of the courses and based on recommendations of PG Medical Education Committee spearheaded by Dr Devi Shetty with the following note,

(i) All the admissions should be through NEET PG and centralised counselling and as per Government policy from time to time. (ii) The CPS qualifications shall not be treated as a recognised medical qualification for the purpose of teaching. (iii) Further, any postgraduate degree course to be run by the CPS shall be with the prior approval of this Ministry subject to fulfillment of stipulations prescribed on the lines of Minimum Standard Requirement Regulations of MCI.

Four months after the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had recognised all PG diplomas granted by the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the same ministry derecognised all of them except DGO, DCH and DPB, by a notification published on January 22, 2018. They added 6 Fellowship courses to the list of courses recognised by the Medical Council of India. Therefore, only three PG Diplomas and six Fellowships granted by CPS were recognised by the Medical Council of India (MCI)/National Medical Commission (NMC) .^[6] However, this notification didn't affect the recognition status of candidates who enrolled themselves in PG Diploma Courses offered by CPS Mumbai between October 2017 and February 2018. All the Broad Specialty PG Diploma holders (D.ORTHO, DMRE, DDV, DOMS, DORL, DPM, DTMH, DTM, DA, TDD, DTM, DFP, DPH, DGM, DGS) of this interim period continue to be recognised as specialists.

The Postgraduate Medical Education Board of NMC in its meeting held on 16.7.2024, decided to discontinue recognition for all CPS courses. Therefore, any admission into any PG Diploma or Fellowship courses of CPS Mumbai after 16.7.2024 stands non recognised by the National Medical Commission.