Equipping the first-year MBBS departments: Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry

Why these three come first

In the MBBS course under the Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023, the first professional year (Phase I) is built around Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry. UG-MSR 2023 lists them among the departments every medical college must have. NMC's notice of 8 October 2026 for the 2027-28 cycle also says infrastructure and departmental requirements must be complete and working on the date of application, so these departments need to be fully equipped before you apply, not after admissions.

Anatomy: dissection hall, histology and museum

UG-MSR 2023 asks for a dissection hall for half the annual intake, with at least 4.2 m² per student, an area meant to cover an ante-room with lockers and wash basins, an embalming room, space for storage tanks and cold storage. It must be well lit and ventilated with exhaust fans, and the college must provide at least one cadaver for every 10 students each year.

The equipment schedule for Anatomy names, among other items: dissection tables (full and half size, marble or stainless-steel top), stools, a mortuary cooler for at least 8 bodies, a cadaver storage tank for 10, tanks for dissected parts, an embalming machine, band saw, brain knife, dissecting instruments and steel trays. For histology it lists microscopes, a dissection microscope, rotary and sledge microtomes, an incubator, paraffin embedding bath, hot plates, a hot air oven and a slide cabinet. The museum needs articulated and disarticulated skeletons, models, charts and specimens.

Physiology: clinical physiology and haematology

UG-MSR 2023 requires a student practical laboratory for Clinical Physiology. The Physiology equipment schedule lists haematology items such as haemoglobinometers, haemocytometers, ESR and PCV pipettes; clinical items such as digital sphygmomanometers, stethoscopes, a digital physiograph and a digital perimeter; experimental items such as a Sherrington–Starling kymograph, myograph stand and electronic stimulator; and general items such as a high-speed centrifuge, colorimeter, pH meter, refrigerator and water distillation still. Several items are marked desirable rather than essential, for example a student physiograph and an automatic gas analyser.

Biochemistry: the student laboratory

The Biochemistry schedule lists an analytical balance, digital colorimeters, a semi-autoanalyser, boiling and constant-temperature water baths, a clinical centrifuge for at least 8 tubes, a digital pH meter, fixed and variable micropipettes, bottle dispensers, a 37 °C incubator, a fume cupboard, a spectrophotometer, an ELISA reader and washer, an ISE analyser and a refrigerator of at least 400 litres. Some larger items, such as a PCR machine, autoanalyser, chromatography unit and electrophoresis apparatus, may be in the institution or elsewhere on a visit, as the schedule puts it.

Rooms the first batch shares

• Practical laboratories: one each for Histology, Clinical Physiology and Biochemistry (among others). Departments may share labs by mutual consent, with enough workstations for the whole batch or for parts of it in turns.
• Lecture theatres: at least four, gallery type, each seating the annual intake plus 20%, with audio-visual and internet facilities.
• Teaching rooms for small groups of about 15 students, at least 1.2 m² per student.
• Museum for Anatomy, seating at least 50 students.
• Central library and the skills laboratory, which serve every year of the course.
• CCTV: NMC's advisory annexed to UG-MSR 2023 places cameras in the dissection hall and in the Physiology and Biochemistry labs.

How many of each item?

For most items the schedules say the quantity “may be procured at the discretion of the department as per requirement”, and that equipment for student demonstration may be shared between departments. In practice, colleges work from the batch size: how many students work at a station, how many stations a lab has, and how many groups use it in turn. NMC calls these lists minimum requirements, not an exhaustive list, so departments add items from their own experience.

Furniture these departments need

• Dissection hall: dissection tables, metal stools, instrument cupboards, steel trolleys and lockers in the ante-room.
• Labs: student work tables with sinks and electric points, lab stools, reagent racks and storage cupboards.
• Museum: specimen display racks and cabinets, catalogue stands and seating.
• Department offices and faculty rooms: tables, chairs and almirahs.

Plan it with Unnat Exports

Open the Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry item lists, tick what you need and type your own quantities, or add all three in the list builder. We quote the whole list item by item with GST, to the specification you require.