Archives

Introduction: Nepal has seen a rapid increase in the number of medical colleges in recent years. It has impacts on various sectors of nation and economic impact is one of them. Private colleges also provide scholarship seats to government. Tax, jobs and local economy are also important aspects of the economic impact. In contrast to other institutions and authoritative bodies, the capacity of regulating medical colleges has remained same despite increasing demand in workflow. So, the regulating bodies such as Nepal Medical Council, concerned Universities, Ministries and other concerned authorities should be strengthened and expanded to accommodate ever increasing workload to achieve quality assurance and standardization.

Objective: The objective of the study was to compare the economic impact of medical colleges on nation’s economy with existing regulatory mechanism.

Materials and Method: Economic impact of medical colleges and other companies were compared. Financial details of medical colleges were taken from concerned authorities. Other secondary data were collected from published reports.

Result: A total of 24 public and private medical colleges were established till 2015. Total valuation of a medical college was NRs. 2660 million with annual transaction of NRs. 704 million from colleges and NRs. 217 million from hospital.

Conclusion: The number of medical colleges are increasing day by day. Their social as well as economic impact is multidimensional. Strengthening of medical council is vital for the proper functioning of medical colleges. The government should give a high priority to the medical council for organising the current turmoil in the field of medical education. 

Economic impact; medical college; medical council; medical education; regulating bodies.