NEW DELHI: In a move that will help thousands of students planning to pursue medical courses abroad, the government mulls extending the validity of their NEET score to three years. At present, the validity of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test is one year — the same year it is being attempted.
According to sources, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has cleared a proposal by the Medical Council of India-Board of Governors to this effect.
“This is being done to help students who might be living outside India and are willing to come back after becoming doctors,” a senior official with the ministry told TNIE. “This will save students the hassle of taking NEET all over again if for some reason they can’t join a medical college in the year they appear for NEET,” he added.
At present, medical graduates who get their degrees from institutes abroad have to take the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination conducted by the medical education regulator before they are registered to practise as doctors in the country.
Earlier, students scoring a minimum of 50 per cent marks in Class XII had to procure an Eligibility Certificate from the MCI before they can move offshore to become doctors.
NEET this year is scheduled for May 5.
Fast facts:
NEET is mandatory to pursue a medical degree abroad.
7,000students go out of India to study medicine every year.
15 lakh students have registered for NEET UG 2019.