-Mrigank-
Medical Councill(NMC) recently announced that there will be a test at all India level for medical students which will replace both the final year exam and the PG entrance exam (NEET-PG). the Gazette notification says
“The National Exit Test
(NExT) shall form the basis of:
i.
Certifying
the eligibility of the medical graduate to register to practice the modern
system of medicine in India and therefore serve as a Licentiate Examination.
ii.
ii.
Determining the eligibility and ranking for the purpose of admission of those
desirous of pursuing further Postgraduate Medical Education in the country in
broad medical specialties and therefore serve as an entrance Examination for
admission to courses of Postgraduate Medical Education.”
Different
issues need to be addressed in this. One is the concept of combining two
distinct types of tests into one. While the PG Entrance test will evaluate the best
of abilities, the licensing test is necessary to determine the absolute minimum
quality required for medical practice. One can see that the concepts behind
both examinations are completely different.
It is
stated in the Notification that the testing will utilize superior MCQs. This is
unfair to the underprivileged groups in society, especially those living in
rural areas of the nation, who would be unable to practice medicine despite
being accepted into MBBS programs, adhering to state regulations, and attending
courses in colleges recognized by the NMC. MCQ testing would not be the best
approach of evaluating students' abilities and knowledge.
IMA, in a
statement, urged NMC to reconsider this decision. It argued in a statement that
the standards of all colleges cannot be compared to those with well-trained
teachers and established processes because roughly 50% of all medical colleges
in India were founded during the past 10–15 years. The statement further says
"That too AIIMS conducting NExT will be detrimental to the students of
newly started medical colleges. A minimum common standard of education should
be ensured prior to uniform examination by periodic assessment and
upgradation," The IMA said that creating
an exit test for a medical licence for Indian medical graduates is
"mocking at our own system".
In addition, the IMA said that over the past six to
seven years, more than 300 new medical colleges have opened in India.
It claimed that the purpose of establishing
all these additional medical colleges would be defeated by a nationwide exit
exam for a license to practice.
According to the doctors' body, the NExT
for license will result in frustrated medical students who are almost ready to
become doctors but are refused a practice. This will deter prospective students
from enrolling in medical colleges due to the uncertainty.
Because a common national exit exam for licensing had
been mandated on the students without the establishment of a unified medical
education standard, it was further said that all new medical colleges would
ultimately be devoid of students and will be forced to close.
IMA concluded by saying "The whole exercise of NExT has been
a grossly one-sided affair without listening to the legitimate concerns of the
medical students and the profession. IMA rejects NExT in toto for its
anti-students content, … Under these
circumstances, we appeal to the central government to intervene and instruct
NMC to reconsider the proposal for NExT,".
There are many more aspects to it as well. It is just
another attempt by the Union administration to undermine federalism. India has
a wide range of healthcare demands and issues; thus, each state should be able
to administer the qualifying exam however it sees fit in order to meet the
goals of its own healthcare system through its medical university. With NExT,
which aims to be a uniform qualifying exam for the entire nation, this won't be
achievable.
In the
NExT exam, which is meant to replace NEET-PG, students won't be evaluated on
their first- and second-year coursework or for their final-year part I subject
in "social and preventive medicine." Only the clinical subjects and
the non-clinical subjects' applied components will be evaluated. This is an odd
development that is very dissimilar from NEET-PG. The knowledge of basic
science and public health is essential for any medical or surgical speciality.
That apart, there are many postgraduate seats in non-clinical disciplines for
which NExT scores will be utilized for admission.
As part
2's real courses are already complex and time-consuming to study, having to
review part 1's ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology will be a strain for
final-year MBBS students. Due to the excessive strain, this exam would put on
final-year students, the majority of them will unavoidably be forced to retake
the NExT exam in order to raise their scores for post-graduate admissions.
Students would be compelled to seek the assistance of the multi-million-dollar
coaching industry even more than previously if multiple choice questions were
the only type of questions in step 1, as is the case with NEET-PG currently,
due to the additional requirement to qualify for step 1 in order to complete an
internship. One must also keep in mind that the entire absence of alternative
question kinds, such as essays, from the qualifying examination restricts evaluation
and hinders various learning activities.
Another
issue is the proposed rule that calculates the score for post-graduate
admissions by averaging the results of the last three NExT step 1 attempts. If
they are unable to get their desired postgraduate seat on the first try, this
will unnecessarily require them to work hard for longer than a year.
In the
present NEET-PG environment, many students give up their jobs and family
responsibilities for at least a few months in order to pass the exam. With
NExT, if the average score over three attempts were to be calculated, it would
disadvantage low-income students because they might not be able to afford to
take breaks from their work for longer than a year. It could also undo a
student's year-long effort to raise their score because the average score can
be more negatively impacted by the poor score received on the first attempt.
Particularly,
the already low representation of women in postgraduate seats will deteriorate
since it would be challenging for them to manage several years of sustained
preparation for NExT because they could have to juggle pregnancy and childcare
responsibilities.
There are
general policy-based issues which these specific issues indicate. All these high-pressure
MCQ-based exams, as we have seen in JEE, NEET, CUET etc., not only almost
necessitate coaching, but also undermine learning of the subjects. As core
subjects are nothing but tools to get good scores in such exams and emphasis is
on what is commonly termed as ‘cracking’ these exams rather than understanding
the concepts of the concerned subject. A major trick in MCQs is elimination and
good guesswork.
Casualty
of NEET student committing suicide in Tamil Nadu, despite being top-ranked
student in the state board is well known and is a glaring example of what such
tests mean for common students.
As is the
case with high fees private colleges and education loans, when a student will invest
in coaching, his objective will get back the money as early as possible.
Thereby, ethics and social concerns will take a further backseat.
The
centralized test is part of the RSS agenda, which wants to do away with any
federal structure and semblance of democracy. This is also the part of agenda
of GATS and WB as well. They want
uniform content, exams and control. This will be easier for the private sector
to operate.
In the
end, most of the people who will pass out and will able to get MBBS degree will
be from rich background and almost all from upper caste (coaching will not have any reservation). They
will suit very much for booming five-star hospital industry.
