NEET PG to be known as NExT. Exam scheduled on Jan 23rd 2023

NEET PG: Responding to a Right to Information (RTI) application, which is doing rounds on the social media, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has recently clarified that the National Exit Test (NExT) is going to be implemented from 2023.

In the RTI reply, NMC, the Apex medical education regulatory body has also clarified that the NExT regulations will soon be published and following that, the modalities of the NExT, the common exit test for the MBBS graduates, will be clear.

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RTI – The NEXT EXAM will be implemented from 2023.#NEETPG pic.twitter.com/1kusE3AWKi

— Dr Saurav Solunke (@SauravSolunke) July 22, 2022

NMC was responding to an RTI application that sought clarification regarding National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Postgraduate Exam (NEET PG) or NEXT is going to take place in 2023 for admission to Postgraduate medical courses.

“As per Section 15(1) of the NMC Act 2019, NMC will organise a common final year undergraduate medical examination, to be known as the National Exit Test for granting licensing to practice medicine as medical practitioners and for enrolment in the State Medical Register or the National Medical Register, as the case may be. The NEXT will be implemented from 2023. The modalities of NEXT will be clear once NEXT regulations will be published by NMC,” NMC stated in the RTI reply dated July 21, 2022.

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Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that NExT, a common exit exam envisaged by the government to standardize medical education across the country, was proposed by NMC as a part of the bill passed in the year 2019. The exam is set to replace the NEET PG and FMGE exams.

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The NExT exam would not only serve as a licentiate exam for those who have done MBBS in India as well as abroad but would also serve as a gateway to admission to the postgraduate broad-specialty medical education in the country. In other words, MBBS graduates will have to complete their final internship to earn the license for practising as a doctor in India. Besides, Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) have to qualify through the exam after it becomes operational in order to get registration with State Medical Councils for practising as a doctor in India.

In addition, to get admission to MD, MS, DM, MCh programs, the doctors will have to qualify for the NExT instead of NEET PG once it initiates. As per various sources, the NEXT examination was scheduled to commence from 2023.

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Earlier this year, while responding to a plea seeking further reduction of NEET PG cut-off percentile, the Central Government had informed the Delhi High Court bench regarding the possibility of introducing an “Exit Test”, which is similar to AIBE to lawyers and would act as a qualifier for the medical graduates for obtaining their medical registration.

“This may be the last year that NEET PG takes place. We will come out with the ‘National Exit Test’. Just like AIBE is for lawyers, an exit test will be developed for doctors. All doctors, while passing out MBBS will have to qualify this exam after which they’ll be registered as Practitioners. Same merit will be taken for admission to PG courses,” counsel for the Government had submitted.

Although there was no confirmation regarding this, it was being speculated that NEXT would replace NEET PG from 2023. Source: medicaldialogues