National Exit Test for MBBS students to be held from 2023

National Exit Test for MBBS students to be held from 2023

Exam May Serve As Entrance Test For PG Programs

Bharat.Yagnik@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad:21.07.2021 

The National Medical Council (NMC) aims to conduct the National Exit Test (NeXT) exam for final year MBBS students from 2023, said top sources close to the development. The broad modalities of the exam have been finalized, sources added.

Sources said that a decision in this regard was taken at a meeting held by the Union ministry of health and family welfare held on June 10 to review the work being undertaken by the National Medical Commission, the country's medical education regulator.

The commission has passed a resolution to set up an examination cell and steps are being taken to expedite the approval process, said sources. A clear picture is expected to emerge in the next six months or so.

The exam will be a common eligibility and entrance test for awarding the licence for practising medicine and surgery to students who have cleared MBBS studies and are doing their medical internship programme.

Also, the exam is likely to serve as an entrance test for admission to PG medical degree programs, replacing National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (PG). About 1.40 lakh students took NEET PG exams last year. The qualifying criteria for NEET (PG) is a 50 percentile score.

“The decision is in line with the central government’s overall plan for one nation, one exam,” said sources.

NeXT will be an online exam and the question paper will be based on the syllabus of undergraduate medical programs. The NeXT question paper will consist only of MCQ -type questions.

‘Plan to implement NeXT from 2023’

A plan is being worked out to implement NeXT from 2023. A committee will be formed on how to take forward the implementation plan. Also, there is a plan to also conduct practical exams the possibility of which will be examined by this committee,” according to sources in NMC.

Conducting practical exams across the country will be a major challenge for NMC, said an expert in the medical education field. An NMC official, when contacted, refused to comment on the matter.