What a DCP means on a doctor's profile
The DCP is the two-year postgraduate diploma in pathology, held by the doctors who run laboratories and report on blood tests and biopsies.
The DCP — and the older DPB, Diploma in Pathology and Bacteriology, which this page also counts — is the two-year postgraduate diploma in pathology. Its holders run diagnostic laboratories and blood banks and report on blood tests, tissue biopsies and cytology; they are specialists a patient rarely meets but whose reports every other specialist depends on. The MD (Pathology) is the three-year degree in the same branch. Pathologists on this site are listed under a laboratory speciality, not as treating doctors.
A postgraduate diploma is two years of training after the MBBS, entered through NEET-PG and awarded by a university under the same regulations as the degrees; the National Medical Commission's Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023 set two years as its length against three for a broad-speciality degree. A diploma holder is a trained specialist in the branch, and may go on to complete the MD in Pathology or a DNB with the diploma counted towards it. Many profiles here record both — the diploma first, the degree later.
How to check whether a doctor holds a DCP
- Read the register entryA doctor's record on the Indian Medical Register names the qualification the state medical council recorded at registration, and further qualifications where the doctor has had them added. If the doctor says they hold a DCP and the register shows only the primary degree, the DCP has not been registered — which is common and not by itself a warning, but it does mean the register cannot confirm it.
- Check the college was recognised for the courseThe NMC's College and Course Search lists which institutions are recognised for which courses. a DCP from a college not recognised for it on the year in question is a qualification the NMC does not recognise, whatever the certificate says.
- Ask the awarding body when it mattersUniversities verify degrees on request, usually for a fee; a hospital credentialing a doctor does this, and a patient can ask whether it has been done. On this site a qualification is marked verified only when it has been checked against the awarding body and the date is shown; otherwise it is marked as supplied.
257 doctors record a DCP
None of them has the qualification checked against the awarding body yet. All are recorded as supplied. Counts are read from the live database and refresh hourly.
Specialities they practise
- Pathologists · 250
- AYUSH practitioners · 1
- General physicians · 1
- General surgeons · 1
- Gynaecologists · 1
- Non-clinical doctors · 1
Where they practise
Questions people ask
- Is a DCP a recognised qualification in India?
- Yes, when awarded by an institution recognised for it. The National Medical Commission maintains the list of recognised qualifications and of the institutions permitted to award each; a DCP from a college that was not recognised for the course in that year is not a recognised qualification, and a registering body can refuse to enter it on the register.
- Is DCP enough to practise as a specialist?
- Yes. A postgraduate diploma is a recognised specialist qualification in its branch, and diploma holders practise as specialists across India. It is shorter than the three-year degree in the same branch and does not by itself qualify the holder for super-speciality training, which is entered from an MD, MS or DNB.
Every profile lists its qualifications as supplied and says which of them have been checked against the awarding body and when. Where none has, the profile says so.
General information about medical qualifications in India, checked against the sources listed on 25 Sep 2026. Not advice about your situation. Errors can be reported through the corrections process.