The Union Health Ministry claims to have given itself a deadline of six months for preparing the groundwork for the implementation of the common final year undergraduate medical examination (NEXT) which will come into effect in three years.
“It is going to a large exercise and we understand that multi-layer co-ordination is required to ensure that we are able to roll-out this standard exam for all our medical students and even for foreign graduates who want to work in India,’’ explained a senior health official.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the Ministry is targeting six months to prepare the ground for ensuring that the country is ready to host the exam. “We are giving ourselves six months though the time allocated for us to do the ground-work is a year,’’ he said.
The Minister said while medical education is a specialised area with high focus on technical skill, NEXT will set common standards of knowledge and skills for doctors on a nation-wide basis which is also required to ensure the quality of medical professionals.
“An enabling provision has been made to ensure common standards. Regulations for operationalising the NEXT would be made in due course keeping in mind importance of both theoretical as well as clinical skill sets required at the level of under graduate,’’ said Dr. Vardhan.
The composition of the National Medical Commission (NMC) is to include 75% doctors representing Central and States Institutions/Councils and health universities.
The Minister said such a composition of NMC will ensure that due weightage is given to theoretical and clinical skill. There is a 3-year window before NEXT becomes operational, leaving ample scope for detailed negotiations on the contours of the exam.
The Ministry officials said the transparency provided by the NEXT results would also lead to regulation of fee through market forces.
“Colleges would have to provide quality of education commensurate to the fee charged by them, otherwise there would be no takers for their management quota seats. Rating of medical institutions based on the standard of education/training will be done which will serve to regulate fee through market forces,’’ the Ministry noted.
It added that NEXT will be as effective as NEET which will ensure that only deserving candidates get admission even in private medical institute.
“As per the earlier provision any student who obtains 50% marks at class 12 level could gain admission to MBBS courses. Colleges negotiated with students and conducted their own admission tests in a totally non-transparent manner. As a result, many undeserving students got admission. Now only NEET qualified students can get admission, which ensures that merit prevails in admissions. NEXT will ensure that there is a certain standard of medical graduates who pass out from medical colleges,’’ the Ministry said.
