Panaji: The National Medical Commission has granted permission to increase MBBS seats at the Goa Medical College from 200 to 250 for the academic year 2026-2027.Health minister Vishwajit Rane called it a “proud milestone” and “a big step towards strengthening medical education”.“This significant expansion will create greater opportunities for aspiring medical students, especially Goan youth and further strengthen Goa’s medical education ecosystem and healthcare human resources,” chief minister Pramod Sawant said.Currently, the GMC has 200 seats, including 30 Economically Weaker Section (EWS) seats.Last year, Rane had told the assembly about the proposal to increase the MBBS seats from 200 to 250 saying they would create new opportunities for Goan youths in the healthcare sector.In 2024, the NMC had granted permission to GMC to increase its MBBS seats from 150 to 200 for the academic year 2024-25. In 2019-2020, GMC’s intake capacity was raised to 180 from 150 seats.The state has a single medical college, while a proposal to set up a college, though approved in principle, is yet to proceed.A senior GMC doctor said, state does need one more medical college, but govt must see to it that quality of training is on par with that of GMC. “There are a lot of Goans who still have to go out of the state to pursue medicine as they dont get admission in GMC,” he said.
