Due to inadequate planning and a lack of clarity in the examination’s structure, a national exam that was intended to serve as a final year test for all MBBS students, licentiate, and PG entrance tests is expected to be postponed by one year, to 2024.
This disclosure was made despite the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) previous assurances that the exam will start in 2023 in its responses to several Right to Information requests.
By the NMC Act, the National Exit Test (NeXT) must be held within three years of the establishment of the NMC, which replaced the Medical Commission of India as the industry’s regulatory body in 2020.
“Discussions are happening whether the National Board of Examinations (NBE) or the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, should conduct the test,” said a senior official in the medical education wing of the Union health ministry.
The NMC is not yet fully prepared to conduct the test in a few months, so the earliest it can happen is in 2024, the official said, adding that the framework of the examination, such as the syllabus to be covered or whether this will be a multiple choice questions based test, is also yet to be decided.
As of right now, the final year MBBS exams are administered by individual colleges, whereas the NBE under the health ministry administers the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (PG) for admission into MS and MD (Master of Surgery and Doctor of Medicine) degrees.
The Foreign Medical Graduate Examination, which is also administered by the NBE, is a requirement for students who have completed medical school abroad and wish to practise in India. Next will also take over this examination.
