Clear NEXT before attaching a tag of 'Doctor'
Thursday, January 05, 2017
By Raju Vernekar
The Union Health Ministry’s draft Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Act, 2016, which seeks to introduce the National Exit Test (NEXT), a licensing or qualifying exam, for MBBS graduates to qualify themselves as doctors and to secure registration for clinical practice, has drawn flak from medical fraternity and students from all over India, including Maharashtra.
A high-level committee headed by NITI Aayog vice-chairman, Arvind Panagariya, has also proposed to replace the Medical Council of India with the National Medical Council, which will be a policy-making body for medical education comprising a chairperson, nine ex-officio members and 10 part-time members.
NEXT is being introduced to standardise and create a level-playing field in medical education. It is expected to substitute three tests, including NEET for postgraduate admissions and the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) and facilitate recruitment for Central Health Services. The MBBS graduates will have to pass the NEXT to use 'Dr' tag and start clinical practice. The move is on the lines of the test conducted by the Bar Council of India for law graduates before they are allowed to start practice. Under NEXT, besides existing 50 per cent constitutional reservations at the undergraduate and post-graduate (PG) entry level, an additional 50 per cent seats will be reserved at PG level for those serving in government hospitals in rural areas. The results of how students from individual colleges have performed in NEXT will be made public.
Even as the deadline for submitting suggestions/objections is going to end on Friday, the website of Indian Medical Association IMA) is flooded with the protests from the medical fraternity and students.
Dr. Jayesh Lele, President, Indian Medical Association (Maharashtra) said, “The NEXT will create further confusion and will destabilise the existing system. It will also discourage students from pursuing a career in medicine. The draft's provisions are suitable for an economy of excess that has an adequate number of doctors and certainly not to our country where already there is a shortage of doctors. We are opposed to this and have forwarded our comments to the IMA.”
Dr. Sagar Mundada, President of the Youth wing of the IMA said,“As it is the students go through the rigorous examination like NEET. The MBBS course is five and a half years, including one year of internship. The students are also required to sign bond with the state government, for serving anywhere in the state for one year, specifically in rural areas. Thus six and a half years pass by, before one can start clinical practice. Now if one has to clear NEXT, the students will be engaged for one more year in studies instead of getting on the job training. And if by chance a student fails to qualify NEXT, he/she will have to sit at home for one more year, since the NEXT will be held only once in a year. Basically, a continuous evaluation process for medical students goes on all through the five and a half years and all the examinations are held under the guidance of the government controlled bodies like the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences. Taking a NEXT exam at the end makes the university exams and assessments redundant. This also could mean that the government controlled bodies have no recognition. We have communicated our opposition to NEXT to the IMA. If there is no amicable solution, we will be left with no option but to approach the court.”
Dr. Niranjan Chavan, Professor and Unit Chief LTMMC and Sion Hospital said, “If a student wants to do post-graduation, he/she has to do internships for two years and work as an Assistance Medical Officer (AMO) in Government hospitals. Even after doing all this, there is no certainty, because out of 100 students hardly 5 to 6 students get PG seats. The examination for third year MBBS is conducted by reputed institutes including AIIMS, deemed universities and government universities. Do the authorities want to derecognise all these institutes?. After passing through all these hurdles, a medical student can settle in life only after 30-32 years of age. With these type of moves, I am sure there will be more shortage of doctors. There are no such fire tests for engineering. Then why more and more stringent tests are introduced for medical.? Under such circumstances the NEXT seems to be irrelevant and uncalled for.”
In the meanwhile, the Kerala branch of IMA has decided to submit a mass petition signed by all medical students to the Centre, on January 11. Similar petitions are also expected from other states, including Maharashtra.
A high-level committee headed by NITI Aayog vice-chairman, Arvind Panagariya, has also proposed to replace the Medical Council of India with the National Medical Council, which will be a policy-making body for medical education comprising a chairperson, nine ex-officio members and 10 part-time members.
NEXT is being introduced to standardise and create a level-playing field in medical education. It is expected to substitute three tests, including NEET for postgraduate admissions and the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) and facilitate recruitment for Central Health Services. The MBBS graduates will have to pass the NEXT to use 'Dr' tag and start clinical practice. The move is on the lines of the test conducted by the Bar Council of India for law graduates before they are allowed to start practice. Under NEXT, besides existing 50 per cent constitutional reservations at the undergraduate and post-graduate (PG) entry level, an additional 50 per cent seats will be reserved at PG level for those serving in government hospitals in rural areas. The results of how students from individual colleges have performed in NEXT will be made public.
Even as the deadline for submitting suggestions/objections is going to end on Friday, the website of Indian Medical Association IMA) is flooded with the protests from the medical fraternity and students.
Dr. Jayesh Lele, President, Indian Medical Association (Maharashtra) said, “The NEXT will create further confusion and will destabilise the existing system. It will also discourage students from pursuing a career in medicine. The draft's provisions are suitable for an economy of excess that has an adequate number of doctors and certainly not to our country where already there is a shortage of doctors. We are opposed to this and have forwarded our comments to the IMA.”
Dr. Sagar Mundada, President of the Youth wing of the IMA said,“As it is the students go through the rigorous examination like NEET. The MBBS course is five and a half years, including one year of internship. The students are also required to sign bond with the state government, for serving anywhere in the state for one year, specifically in rural areas. Thus six and a half years pass by, before one can start clinical practice. Now if one has to clear NEXT, the students will be engaged for one more year in studies instead of getting on the job training. And if by chance a student fails to qualify NEXT, he/she will have to sit at home for one more year, since the NEXT will be held only once in a year. Basically, a continuous evaluation process for medical students goes on all through the five and a half years and all the examinations are held under the guidance of the government controlled bodies like the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences. Taking a NEXT exam at the end makes the university exams and assessments redundant. This also could mean that the government controlled bodies have no recognition. We have communicated our opposition to NEXT to the IMA. If there is no amicable solution, we will be left with no option but to approach the court.”
Dr. Niranjan Chavan, Professor and Unit Chief LTMMC and Sion Hospital said, “If a student wants to do post-graduation, he/she has to do internships for two years and work as an Assistance Medical Officer (AMO) in Government hospitals. Even after doing all this, there is no certainty, because out of 100 students hardly 5 to 6 students get PG seats. The examination for third year MBBS is conducted by reputed institutes including AIIMS, deemed universities and government universities. Do the authorities want to derecognise all these institutes?. After passing through all these hurdles, a medical student can settle in life only after 30-32 years of age. With these type of moves, I am sure there will be more shortage of doctors. There are no such fire tests for engineering. Then why more and more stringent tests are introduced for medical.? Under such circumstances the NEXT seems to be irrelevant and uncalled for.”
In the meanwhile, the Kerala branch of IMA has decided to submit a mass petition signed by all medical students to the Centre, on January 11. Similar petitions are also expected from other states, including Maharashtra.
The NEXT will create further confusion and will destabilise the existing system. It will also discourage students from pursuing a career in medicine. The draft's provisions are suitable for an "economy of excess" that has an adequate number of doctors and certainly not to our country where already there is a shortage of doctors. We are opposed to this and have forwarded our comments to the IMA.
— Dr. Jayesh Lele, President, Indian Medical Association (Maharashtra)
— Dr. Jayesh Lele, President, Indian Medical Association (Maharashtra)
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