District medical colleges in India – Addressing the rural health-care needs

Abstract

The shortfall of human resources in health has resulted in skewing the distribution of health workers such that vulnerable populations in rural, tribal, and hilly areas continue to be extremely underserved. To address the regional disparities in medical education and availability of human resources in health, the policy of establishing one medical college at each district in India was initiated. The situation of human resources in health remains inadequate. To address the regional disparities in medical education and availability of human resources in health, the policy of establishing one medical college at each district in India was initiated. Impressive progress has been made during the past few years with respect to opening new medical colleges in the area of need across geographical coverage.