Indian government is likely to introduce the National Exit Tests (NeXT) for MBBS students' final year from 2023, according to a report on Hindustan Times.
Students need to secure a seat in medical colleges via the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) to pursue MBBS.
The NeXT will serve as a common qualifying examination for the final year MBBS students and simultaneously as a licentiate exam. The latter means that, students qualifying the NeXT exam will be granted permission to practice medicine in India.
The NeXT will also serve as the criteria for merit-based allocation of postgraduate seats in broad specialties. Further this exam will bridge the gap between students from foreign medical institutions willing to practice medicine in India.
The NeXT will be applicable in all medical institutions including the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in order to maintain a common standard of medical education sector in the country.
“The exit exam is most likely going to start from the batch of students that is going to graduate in 2023. The modalities are being worked out," said a senior central government official aware of the matter, requesting anonymity.
“If NExT is introduced in the education system then it will do away with the need to conduct NEET-PG (national eligibility-cum-entrance examination). It will be a common test for multiple purposes that is meant to be implemented across the board," this person added.
The proposal to create a common exit examination in the medical field was floated by the National Medical Commission. The commission came into being on 25 September 2020 through the National Medical Commission Act, 2019.
The commission is responsible for implementing the process of an exit examination.
According to the reports, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences is likely to conduct the test from 2023. However, there is a possibility of outsourcing the process to a third party, the people familiar with the matter added.
There is also a mock test planned before implementing the final exam, to test the procedure and remove anxiety among medical students, according to the person citied above.
