Indian Medical Association conveys its concerns about NExT to NMC

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has written to the National Medical Commission (NMC) stating that the implementation of the NExT without proper evaluation would jeopardise the affordability and accessibility of medical education and urged it to reconsider certain provisions.

The NMC has sought comments from all the stakeholders on the implementation and preparation of conducting the National Exit Test (NExT) by filling up the feedback form by February 7. The stakeholders have also been requested to go-through the NMC National Exit Test Regulations, 2023.

The doctors’ body said bringing in the NExT defeats the vision of the prime minister and government of affordable and accessible medical education by seriously hampering the survival of medical institutions in underprivileged communities. The association further pointed out that currently, uniform standards of medical education across all academic institutions do not exist and testing the entire country with one test would not be feasible.

The IMA further stressed that the NExT cannot be conducted both as a licentiate exam and a PG entrance exam, as the focus of the licensing exam should be on assessing the minimum standard while that of the PG exam should be to select the most meritorious students. The suggested format of an MCQ-based test will only decrease the attention and interest of students in classes and clinics and help in the mushrooming of coaching centres that are already threatening the medical education system in the country by patronising only the rich and affordable classes, it pointed out.

This will also seriously hamper the academic and clinical skills of the students, it stated.

As and when the NExT gets planned, the IMA asked for extensive discussions with it and other stakeholders.