New Delhi: Last year saw several flip flops by the National Medical Commission (NMC) over when the National Exit Test (NExT) — a singular qualifying examination to replace three existing exams in the field of medicine — should be implemented.
But the apex medical education regulator now seems unsure about the basic premise of the test and has sought feedback from students, faculty members and institutions on whether a single test can replace the final year Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) exams and entrance test for post-graduate (PG) seats in medical colleges.
The NMC Act of 2019 envisaged NExT as a singular qualifying examination to replace three existing exams in the field of medicine — the final MBBS exams, the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for post-graduate seats (NEET-PG), and the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) for foreign medical graduates to practice medicine in India.
The Act stated that qualifying in NExT shall be a must — within three years of the Act getting notified — for every MBBS pass out to receive a license to practice medicine in India.
But in a public notice issued this week, the NMC has sought opinions from stakeholders on the NExT regulations issued last year which were later withdrawn at the behest of the Union health ministry following an outcry from students.
In an accompanying form, the stakeholders have been asked basic questions such as whether the NExT exam should replace the conventional MBBS final year exam or if the NMC should hold separate tests in addition to the MBBS final year exam.
The NMC also wants the stakeholder to share whether the NExT exam can serve as a qualifying exam for MBBS final year students, licensing and admission to the PG course, apart from their opinion on whether the exam should be held in retrospective or prospective manner.
Last year, the NMC had announced that from 2024 onwards, the NExT exam would be conducted twice a year, meaning that the 2019 batch of MBBS students would have to clear it to get their degrees. This decision sparked an outcry from 2019 batch students and their parents, who filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court, arguing that it was unfair to subject their batch to the NExT, as the NMC Act was passed after they had taken admission in medical colleges.
Later, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the exam would not be held in 2024 and that the government would refrain from taking any decisions regarding NExT that could cause “confusion”.
His ministry also pointed out to the NMC several discrepancies in the NExT regulations, directing it to issue a fresh notification.
A senior NMC official who did not wish to be named said the latest initiative was aimed at understanding why the popular opinion is that the NExT should not be held.
“Unless we seek consultation from the stakeholders, we will not understand their point of view,” the official told ThePrint.
ThePrint reached NMC spokesperson Dr Yogender Malik for comment over phone. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
Dr Aviral Mathur, president of the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) — an association of resident doctors from across the country — told ThePrint that the latest NMC notice “was a long time coming”.
Meanwhile, Dr Karan Juneja, standing committee member of the IMA’s junior doctors’ division said that if NExT is implemented, it should be done with prior information, planning and changes in academic pattern.
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‘NExT anti-student’
In a representation sent to the government in July last year, the Indian Medical Association — the largest network of doctors in India — had said that the group, along with various networks of medical students, is “deeply concerned” about NExT being inflicted unilaterally on the nation.
“The whole exercise of NExT has been a grossly one-sided affair without listening to the legitimate concerns of the medical students and the profession,” the association had written.
The letter, a copy of which is with ThePrint, also said that IMA “rejects” NExT in toto for its anti-student content.
The IMA had reasoned that nearly 50 percent of the medical colleges in India — both government and private — were started only 10-15 years ago, and as such, the standards of such colleges cannot be compared to those that have well-trained teachers and systems in place.
“Minimum common standard of education should be ensured prior to uniform examination by periodic assessment and upgradation,” the association had said.
In a representation sent to the NMC a few months ago, FORDA had said that the NEET-UG does not encroach or interfere in the rights of the respective education boards of the states.
As NExT has been proposed as a common national-level licentiate or exit exam for all medical and nursing graduates, this implies that a common national level licentiate/exit exam shall be conducted for all medical and nursing graduates, FORDA had written.
The association had stressed that the explicit use of the word “graduates” is of specific importance and it emphasises that the licentiate exam is to be taken by “graduates” only for practicing their respective professions.
“Undergraduate students cannot appear for the licentiate exam,” it had also written, adding that it can be inferred that the students are to sit for the exam only after graduation. This, it said, means that the rights of the respective universities to conduct first to final year exams and to award graduation degrees with their respective attendance, internal assessment, passing criteria for theory and practical exams, rules of condonation, if any, successful completion of internship, are fully protected, while conducting the licentiate exam.
“This provision of licentiate exam underlines and protects the rights of the respective universities/institutions to conduct all the undergraduate (theory and practical) exams and award graduation degrees to the successful students,” FORDA had said.
Thus, it can be inferred that only graduates will sit for the licentiate exam, which may be on similar lines as the NEET-UG — everything defined clearly and unambiguously on day one of taking admission in an academic course and without encroaching the rights of respective universities to conduct exams and to award graduation degrees to students, the association had said.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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These are AC room groomed jokers. Appoint real clinicians who has worked from grassroot level Like PHC to college level. And good experience as HODs and faculty. Non clinicians who has limited knowledge and experience in patient management are in majority in NMC. They strive just to force their importance. Non clinicians even community medicine people are given undue importance it’s just like appointing ayurvedic doctors to frame medical education policy. Whole curriculum and medical education system has been butchered.