UPSC Combined Medical Service Exam: General Ability Paper scrapped

New Delhi: The 'general ability' paper which has till now been an integral part of the Combined Medical Services Exam (CMSE), will now be excluded from this test next year onwards. A Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) notification released mentions the major changes in the scheme of the exam and the syllabus for CMSE. 'The changes will be made effective from CMSE 2018,' says the Commission. Though the division of marks between part 1 and part 2 exam continues to be the same; the general ability paper on the computer-based exam is to be eliminated. The change in the exam pattern can be viewed on the official website: upsc.gov.in.

The changes that will be witnessed in Paper 1 of the Computer-based exam will include questions from General Medicine and Paediatrics on the basis of a division of 96:24 in the two fields respectively. This was not the case, earlier, where each of the sections carried 70 and 20 questions, respectively and 30 questions were asked from the general ability section.

The exam pattern for paper II continues to be the same as that of previous years with 40 questions each being asked from surgery, Gynaecology & Obstetrics and preventive and social medicine. The paper shall constitute a total of 250 marks.

'Candidates who qualify in the computer-based examination will be called for Interview/Personality Test to be conducted by the Union Public Service Commission. The Interview/Personality Test will carry 100 marks. The Interview for Personality Test will be intended to serve as a supplement to the computer-based examination for testing the General Knowledge and ability of the candidates in the fields of their academic study and also in the nature of a personality test to assess the candidate's intellectual curiosity, critical powers of assimilation, balance of judgement and alertness of mind, ability for social cohesion, integrity of character, initiative and capability for leadership,'

Attached are the details of the same