The NMC curriculum list, reproduced exactly, plus the editions residents actually read in 2026 — with journals, a year-wise reading plan, and the references you will need for your thesis and exit practical.
Sitting the DrNB instead? The same superspecialty is covered at DrNB Medical Genetics books.
These 20 titles are reproduced as they appear in the National Medical Commission curriculum document for Medical Genetics — spelling and abbreviations included. Treat it as the scope anchor, not as a shopping list.
Source: National Medical Commission curriculum document for Medical Genetics
The books most residents actually buy. These are the editions in circulation now, with a note on whether each is something you read through, keep as a reference, or open only for the viva.
Journal club and the recent-advances parts of the theory paper come from here. You do not need all of them — follow one Indian and two international titles properly.
Three years of superspecialty training goes faster than it sounds, and most of it is spent on the floor. The order below is what works for most DM Medical Genetics residents.
Read Emery's Elements and Strachan and Read to build the molecular and clinical foundation, then start Smith's Recognizable Patterns as a daily reference in the genetics clinic. Learn pedigree drawing and risk calculation cold; register the thesis protocol.
Work through Emery and Rimoin by theme, Saudubray during the metabolic postings, and Gersen/AGT plus ACMG standards at the laboratory bench. Build a personal syndrome photo log; collect thesis data.
Revise Smith's and Cassidy's Management of Genetic Syndromes, practise ACMG variant classification on real cases weekly, and rehearse counselling role-plays and cytogenetic/molecular stations. Submit the thesis.
Protocol, methodology and reporting standards examiners expect you to have followed.
Cases, spotters and stations that come up again and again in the exit exam.
DM Medical Genetics is a three-year course after MD/DNB in Paediatrics, General Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Biochemistry or Pathology depending on the institution. The NMC guidelines follow the standard PG pattern of four theory papers of 100 marks each with clinical, practical and viva voce, and thesis acceptance is a prerequisite. The practical is unusual in combining clinical dysmorphology cases with laboratory stations in cytogenetics, molecular genetics and biochemical genetics, plus a formal genetic counselling assessment.
The National Medical Commission curriculum for Medical Genetics lists 20 titles, beginning with Emery and Rimoin's Principles and Practice of Medical Genetics and Genomics. Editors: Reed Pyeritz, Bruce Korf, Wayne Grody. Elsevier. 6th Edn. 2013.. The full list is reproduced on this page exactly as it is published.
Emery and Rimoin's Principles and Practice of Medical Genetics and Genomics by Pyeritz, Korf, Grody (eds) is the usual anchor. The comprehensive reference; the current edition is a multi-volume set organised by theme.
DM Medical Genetics is a superspecialty course taken after a broad-specialty MD, MS or DNB, so the reading is narrower and deeper. The broad-specialty texts are assumed knowledge by the time you start.
No. Most residents own two or three and use the department or library copy for the rest. That is exactly why printing selected chapters from a PDF works out cheaper than buying volumes you will open twice.
We print from the PDF you send us. Send the file on WhatsApp with your page count and whether you want colour, black and white or mixed, and we print, bind and deliver anywhere in India. We do not supply copyrighted book files.
Black and white is 50 paise a page, colour is Rs 1 a page, and binding is Rs 40 per bound volume. A 400-page mixed set with binding usually works out around Rs 300 plus delivery.
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