Medical postgraduate (MD) program in Laboratory Medicine in India: The Past, Present and Future

A medical postgraduate course in the field of Laboratory Medicine for the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree holders has existed for more than two decades in India, initiated and offered by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, which was created under the special Act of Parliament of India 1956. This course has recently been included in the draft of National Medical Commission’s Post Graduate Regulation 2021 list of medical courses, and the foundation guidelines have been laid for other medical colleges and teaching hospitals across the country to start this course. This article, written purely in academic interest, describes the past, present and future of this postgraduate training program in India with an aim to answer several doubts regarding this unique and holistic course with a view to providing a direction to those who are willing to become a laboratory physician through this post-graduation.