The National Board of Examinations (NBE) and Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) on March 12, 2014 released the first of its kind report of Health Professional Education for a New Century. The report was unveiled by Mr CK Mishra additional secretary, ministry of health and family welfare, Dr K Srinath Reddy, president PHFI and NBE and Prof M C Misra, director, AIIMS, New Delhi.

The report is a compilation on "5 Country Network Study-Situational Analysis of Health Professionals Education". The 5-Country Network comprising of Bangladesh, China, India, Thailand and Vietnam jointly undertook an extensive collaborative exercise to undertake this situational analysis.

The India specific activities under this project were jointly led by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) in partnership with the National Board of Examinations (NBE), from its conceptualization till its completion. During the period 2011-2013 the National Board of Examinations and Public Health Foundation of India undertook an in-depth situation analysis for health professional education in composing medical education, nursing education and public health education through various scientific tools and deliberations with other distinguished participants from the Asia-Pacific network on Health Professional Education for Reforms (ANHER). The symposium also focused on the placement of Foreign Medical Graduates in the Indian mainstream medical education, making it more competitive.

Among the six key recommendations, the report has suggested that the councils for medical and nursing professions should proactively engage with all concerned stakeholders to advance the reforms agenda. Accreditation mechanisms for institutions and educational programmes should be pursued. Currently there is no accreditation mechanism available for Public Health Education. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare should take the lead to establish the architecture for accreditation for Public Health Education.

It has also recommended that the inter-professional educational settings are an imperative and should be reflected in the instructional settings within
institutes. This is possible only in those settings which encourage team-work as an integral value. Educational institutes should also be encouraged to partner with other institutes/ organizations/ NGOs and health systems to foster systems thinking as a core.