Now, MBBS doctors need not take extra exams for licences, PG admissions

• The Union Cabinet gave a nod to National Medical Commission Bill (NMC).
  
• Students will be admitted based on score in the MBBS final examination, which will now be known as National Exit Test (NEXT).
  
• NEXT will also be considered as a screening exam for foreign medical aspirants.
  
• The common entrance test will also be applicable to AIIMS and INIs.

In a good news to medical aspirants in India, the Union Cabinet gave a nod to National Medical Commission Bill (NMC).

With the National Medical Commission (NMC) in place, students will be admitted based on score in the common final year MBBS exam, which will now be known as National Exit Test (NEXT).

This means that the medical aspirants will no longer have to go through a separate examination to secure a licence to practice medicine, or to enroll in postgraduate programmes.

In fact, NEXT will also be considered as a screening exam for foreign medical aspirants. In a bid to have uniformity across institutions, the bill also seeks to rope in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Institute of National Importance (INIs) into the given criteria.

“At present, we have NEET and entrance exams for AIIMS. Now, we will also have an exit exam that will be for everyone for getting a licence to practice medicine in the country," Mint reported citing Union minister Prakash Javadekar.

The NMC, which will substitute the Medical Council of India(MCI), will be set up to take over the responsibilities of conducting common entrances for MBBS, streamlining the course and fees. Under this, the government will introduce fee relaxation for students enrolling in private institutions.

“The Medical Assessment and Rating Board will grant permission for new medical colleges, starting PG courses and increasing seats based on the standards set by the UG and PG boards,” the Cabinet noted.

The NMC will constitute three autonomous bodies — Under-Graduate Medical Education Board, Post-Graduate Medical Education Board, and Ethics and Medical Registration Board — which will focus on ensuring global standards of education.

Every year, 80,000 students take admission in MBBS courses across the country. While 150,000 take the entrance examination to enroll in 50,000 seats for PG courses.

The government recently announced a 26% increase in the number of seats for MBBS aspirants in the last two years — reserving nearly 5,000 seats for economically weaker sections.

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