NEW DELHI: In a move that will bring relief to thousands of anxious medical students, the National Medical Commission (NMC) on Thursday deferred the National Exit Test (NExT) exam till further notice.
NExT will replace the National Eligibility Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET PG) for admission to postgraduate medical programmes and licence to practice medicine in the country.
In a brief public notice, the NMC said, “All the stakeholders are hereby informed that the National Exit Test (NEXT) examination is deferred on the advice of the Ministry, dated 11.07.2023, till further directions from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.”
However, it is unclear whether the mock NExT, scheduled for July 28, will still be held.
The announcement comes after protests from several medical colleges, medical and student bodies, including the Indian Medical Association (IMA), which demanded that the new examination be repealed immediately.
The announcement has also ended the question that weighed on every medical student’s mind -- whether or not the examination will be conducted for the 2019 batch. The confusion started after Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya last week announced that NExT will not be implemented for the 2019 MBBS batch. This led to demands from the medical fraternity for an official notification for further clarification.
The medical fraternity welcomed the move. The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) took to Twitter, stating that "NEXT deferred till further order. We once again thank Hon'ble Health Minister Shri Mansukhmandviya for this. We need to make many changes in the proposed NEXT exam." The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) also tweeted: ".. hoping the upcoming draft would be much more student-friendly and rational."
The NMC issued NExT regulations 2023 recently, stating that the exam will be conducted in two phases, with the NExT Step 1 and NExT Step 2 exams being held twice a year – in May and November.
The test was planned to ensure practical training and uniform education for all medical students in the country.
But the students currently graduating had demanded that the examination be postponed as they did not have enough time to prepare for a new examination format.
The exam was to be conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
The NMC had said the NExT should form the basis of certifying the eligibility of a medical graduate to register to practice the modern system of medicine in India and therefore serve as a licentiate examination.
It will also form the basis for determining the eligibility and ranking for admission of those desirous of pursuing further postgraduate medical education in the country in broad medical specialities and therefore serve as an entrance examination for admission to courses of PG medical education.
After clearing the NExT Step 1, students will be doing an internship for one year, and the same score of NExT Step 1 will be considered for admission into postgraduate courses.
After the internship, the medical students must clear NExT Step 2 to become eligible for obtaining a licence and registration to practice modern medicine in India.
Foreign medical graduates who want to practise in India will have to appear in NExT Step 1 and do the internship and then clear NExT Step 2 to become eligible to practice.
According to the NMC Act, it has to conduct a common final-year undergraduate medical examination as specified by regulations within three years of it coming into force. The Act came into force in September 2020.
However, last September, the government invoked the provisions of the NMC Act by which the time limit for conducting the NExT exam for final-year MBBS students was extended till September 2024.