Terming NEET syllabus unscientific, city doctor writes to Centre

Kolkata: A city doctor and an expert in the field of medical studies in the state has written to the Union Health minister J P Nadda urging him to look into syllabus of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) as the claimed it to be 'unscientific'.

In his letter to the union minister, Dr A K Maity stated that in the undergraduate NEET syllabus, more importance has been given on plant physiology-anatomy-morphology and zoology but it should be on human physiology and medical zoology.

A draft syllabus for NEET undergraduate entrance exam was prepared by NCERT as per the instructions of Medical Council of India in 2011. He pointed out the importance of including human physiology, anatomy & biochemistry which were initially not in the syllabus. Human physiology was later included in the syllabus by the NCERT but surprisingly it was found that less than 5 per cent questions of All India Medical Entrances are set on the human physiology. As he said that it is very important to know basic level of human physiology and anatomy, microbiology, biochemistry and medical zoology in details rather than botany and zoology. Dr Maity also urged the Union Health Minister to remove detailed botany portion like plant physiology, morphology, anatomy, plant reproduction, classification etc and zoology part like cockroach, details classification of animals etc.

"For the students who would be the future doctors, it is very important to know human physiology rather than plant physiology-anatomy-morphology, and zoology part like cockroach. Now the duration of MBBS course has been reduced. The students face tremendous pressure of vast curriculum," Dr Maity stated in his letter.

He also demanded for the representation of the Bengal Health department official in the team which sets the questions papers, otherwise the sentiments of Bengal medical aspirants would not be looked after. There are 32 various boards altogether in the country and there must be representatives from all the boards so that the sentiments of regional students are not hurt.

He also said that the medical aspirants should know human physiology, anatomy biochemistry & microbiology, applied physiology etc. Due to the insufficient basic knowledge in this stream, the overall standard of the MBBS doctors are degrading which will have a long lasting effect on the healthcare system of our country.

Previously, the First Professional MBBS course duration was of two years. Then it was reduced to one-and-a-half years and now further reduced to one year. In one year students have to read human anatomy, physiology and biochemistry. Syllabus remains same as before but time is reduced to half. If the medical aspirants do not know basic parts of human physiology, anatomy, biochemistry, then it is difficult for them to grasp all these subjects in detail in a short time, he pointed out.