In a bid to streamline medical education in the country, the Union government plans to convert the final year examination of the MBBS course into a licentiate examination, which will also be used for entrance into postgraduate medical courses, and act as a screening test for foreign medical graduates. It will be called the National Exit Test (NEXT).
These proposals are part of the National Medical Commission Bill approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday. If enacted, the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 would be repealed. The current Medical Council of India would be replaced by a National Medical Commission.
The Commission will have four autonomous boards: Undergraduate Medical Education Board, Post-Graduate Medical Education Board, Medical Assessment and Rating Board, and Ethics and Medical Registration Board. It will also be responsible for regulating fees and all other charges for half the seats in private medical colleges and deemed universities.
The Bill proposes to unify all entrance procedures for medical courses. NEXT, as well as NEET – the common entrance test for MBBS admissions – as well as admission counselling will now apply to AIIMS and other institutes which have followed their own procedures thus far.
