Students,Junior doctors protest against NEXT

Kolkata: Protest is likely to take a forefront when 500 medical students and junior doctors take to the streets to register their agitation against the Centre’s decision to introduce the National Exit Test (NEXT), for MBBS graduates and the abolition of the Medical Council of India(MCI).

The Union Ministry of Health has already recommended the NMC Bill 2017, which if passed by the parliament, would have the Medical Council of India replaced by the National Medical Commission. The change would also usher in the proposed NEXT. The students who have already cleared the National Eligibility Test (NEET) will have to appear for NEXT on completion of their MBBS.

The proposed NEXT has been made compulsory for doctors to be registered for clinical practice. The exit exam would also serve as a NEET for those planning to pursue post-graduation. The test is meant to evaluate the level of an MBBS pass out’s knowledge and skills.

However, doctors have protested against NEXT saying that qualifying for an MBBS from a medical college was enough to prove their knowledge and skills.

The proposed NEXT is being protested against, as students feel that this imposition is leading to a question mark being put on the credibility of universities providing MBBS degrees, and their evaluations as well.

NEXT, they feel would result in discrimination against Indian graduates.

The proposed National Medical Commission (NMC) consisting of 4 autonomous boards will take care of undergraduate and post-graduate medical education, assess medical institutions and also register practitioners, reports millennium post.

Read also: National Exit Exam to Become Reality as GoM clears NMC Bill