Kolkata, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur has become the first IIT in the country to introduce National Medical Commission-accredited postgraduate medical courses, offering six MD specialisations from the 2026-27 academic session, officials said on Thursday.
The institute said its existing expertise in artificial intelligence, computational sciences, microfluidics, bioengineering and healthcare diagnostics would provide a foundation for developing a research-oriented medical education ecosystem. “The vision is not simply to train specialist doctors, but to create an ecosystem where clinical excellence meets engineering ingenuity, artificial intelligence and translational research,” IIT Kharagpur Director Prof Suman Chakraborty told PTI. The institute said the inaugural batch would mark the beginning of a new chapter in India’s postgraduate medical education, bringing together clinical expertise and technological research within an IIT ecosystem.
The institute will offer a total of 12 seats at its Dr B C Roy Multi-Speciality Medical Research Centre, with two seats in each specialisation, according to a statement. The six disciplines are General Medicine, Radiology, Physiology, Pathology, Community Medicine and Biochemistry. The initiative seeks to integrate conventional medical education with engineering, artificial intelligence , biomedical sciences and translational research, creating opportunities for doctors to engage in interdisciplinary research and healthcare innovation. Students will have opportunities to explore areas such as AI-assisted clinical decision-making, advanced medical imaging, computational pathology, biomedical devices, molecular diagnostics, precision medicine and affordable healthcare technologies, it added.
