Can You Change Your Specialty During PG Training in Punjab? (PPM 2024)

Some trainees realise after joining that a specialty does not suit them. Under the PPM 2024, changing specialty is not allowed as a rule. There is only a narrow route for special cases.

The basic rule

A PG trainee or deputationist is not allowed to change the program (discipline of training) at any stage of the course for which he or she was selected (Clause 7.11).

The exception: special circumstances

A change may be considered only in special circumstances, such as medical reasons. A wish to move to a “better” specialty is not a ground.

How the process works

1. Standing Medical Board (SMB): a provincial board notified by SHC&ME examines trainees who apply to change specialty purely on medical grounds (Clause 6.36).
2. The SMB sends its recommendations to the Convener of the Hardship Committee (Vice Chancellor, KEMU).
3. The Hardship Committee considers the case in its meeting and sends a clear recommendation, with the SMB report, to the SHC&ME Department. It can also recommend that a trainee be examined by the SMB (Clause 5.3).
4. If recommended, the trainee may be placed in a specialty and institution where his or her merit matches the merit of that particular induction (Clause 7.11).
5. Final orders are issued by the SHC&ME Department.

What happens to stipend?

Stipend is paid only for the rest of the total period, counted from the first specialty and the date you first joined training under CIP (Clause 7.11). The clock does not restart.

What about changing supervisor or institution?

Requests to change supervisor or institution are also handled by the Hardship Committee (Clause 5.3). For moving to another city, see transfer and wedlock rules.

Leaving and re-applying instead?

If you leave training to apply again in another specialty, you face debarment and stipend refund penalties. Read exit and resignation rules first. Also, a doctor who has completed one Level-III training at government expense cannot apply again (Clause 6.41).

Read more PPM rules

• PPM 2024: all rules of Level-III training
• Transfer and wedlock rules
• Freezing of PG training
• Exit, resignation and stipend refund

Applying for the January 2027 intake? See the December 2026-Jan 2027 Induction page for the policy, merit criteria, CIP calculator and seat distribution.

Source: Policy and Procedure Manual (PPM) of Post-Graduate Residency of Level-III Programs, SHC&ME Department, notified 15 May 2024, Clauses 5.3, 6.36, 6.41 and 7.11. Download the PPM (PDF). Always check the latest notification of the SHC&ME Department.

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