MBBS doctors can skip entrance exams for MD and MS courses, if Health Ministry has its way

• The Health Ministry has proposed to drop NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Examination) for admission to MD and MS courses.
  
• The admission will be based on the scores in the MBBS final examination and National Exit Test (NEXT).
  
• The candidates wanting to enroll in PG courses in AIIMS will still have to go through the mandatory entrance exam.
  
• NEET Super Speciality exam will also be mandatory to study Master of Surgery (Mch).
  

MBBS pass outs might not have to go through an entrance exam to pursue post-graduate courses, if a proposal by Health Ministry goes through.

It wants to drop NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Examination) for admission into MD (Doctor of Medicine) and MS (Master of Science) courses.

If the draft National Medical Commission (NMC) bill goes through, students can be admitted based on score in the MBBS final examination and National Exit Test (NEXT), PTI reported.

They will also not be required to go through a separate examination to secure a licence to practice medicine, according to the proposed draft.

The draft excludes All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) from the given criteria. The candidates wanting to enroll in PG courses in AIIMS will still have to go through the mandatory entrance exam. In addition to this, the NEET Super Speciality exam will also be mandatory to study Master of Surgery (Mch).

The draft NMC Bill was tabled in the Parliament in 2017. It focussed at introducing a ‘bridge course’ that will enable medical practitioners of alternative medicine to pursue allopathy. However, it faced criticism from medical professionals and health associations in India.

The bill was later revised with several amendments including aggressive punishments for unauthorised practice of medicine — a year long imprisonment or a fine of up to ₹500,000.

However, to address the shortage of medical professionals, the government has allocated 26% more seats for MBBS aspirants in the last two years — reserving nearly 5,000 seats for economically weaker sections.

Overall, nearly 80,000 students take admission in MBBS courses every year in 480 institutes across the country. Of this, 150,000 take the entrance examination to enroll in PG courses.

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