Registering an additional qualification

The right to have it entered

When a person on the State Register or the National Register obtains a qualification recognised under section 35 or 36 of the NMC Act, they are entitled to have it entered against their name in that register, in the manner the regulations specify (section 33(3)).

The 2023 Registration Regulations define additional qualifications as qualifications other than the primary medical qualification, recognised under Chapter VI of the Act and obtained by a registered practitioner under the postgraduate medical regulations (Regulation 2(a)).

The procedure in the 2023 Regulations

Regulation 7 provides that:

1. A practitioner who obtains a recognised additional qualification applies to the concerned State Medical Council to have it entered in the State Register or National Register.
2. After scrutiny, the council issues a new registration certificate with the same number, showing the additional qualification and the date it was entered.
3. The entry in the State Register is automatically made in the National Register.
4. A licensed practitioner with a registered additional qualification may practise in the corresponding field of specialisation or super-specialisation anywhere in India.
5. The validity period stays as on the original certificate, with the date the qualification was added noted on it.
6. Until the National Register comes into force, the existing system continues (Regulation 7(vi)).

On the NMR portal

NMC’s public notice on the National Medical Register portal (cover letter dated 30 August 2024) said that only the basic MBBS qualification could then be registered on the portal, and that registration of additional qualifications “would be made available on the portal shortly”.

Not yet recorded here: whether that facility is now available.

Showing the qualification after your name

The Ethics Regulations, 2002, now in force, allow a physician to display as a suffix to their name only recognised medical degrees, or certificates, diplomas, memberships and honours that confer professional knowledge or recognise an exemplary qualification or achievement (Regulation 1.4.2).

What the 2026 draft would change

The draft amendments published on 11 August 2026 would, if made final:

• require the application to go to the council where the practitioner is primarily registered, through the Board’s Unified Registration portal, for entry in the State Register (proposed Regulation 7(i))
• continue the existing system “till such time, the National Register comes fully into force” (proposed Regulation 7(vi))
• refer, in the definition, to the Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations (proposed Regulation 2(a))