Medical council to extend the NEET to post-grad courses

Following large-scale complaints over alleged rampant irregularities in the Medical Post-Graduate Entrance Test (PGET) conducted by states, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has decided to extend the Proposed National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) to post-graduate courses.

According to the proposal the first NEET-PG will be conducted in January-February 2012 for admissions into academic year 2012-2013. According to MCI officials, the council has also decided to hold similar national level single tests for admission to super specialty courses from the next academic year. A senior officer in the MCI told DC that, as per the proposal, MCI will go by the MBBS syllabus described in the MCI Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997, for this entrance test.

Instead of an essay type format adopted in most of the PGETs conducted by the states, MCI will go with multiple choice questions (MCQs). This would be based on the MBBS syllabus as well as the knowledge that needs to be acquired during internship which is also described in the said regulations. "The distribution of questions, model questions and method of tie-breaking for ranking would be finalised after due deliberation," he said.

According to MCI officials, the council is also contemplating the option of introducing an online examination in line with the CAT. "Many states including Karnataka have proposed introducing online examinations to ensure transparency. We are holding talks with all states and health universities over the pros and cons of the online examination.

As the exam is dependent upon the MBBS syllabus there is no need for any discussion in this regard," he said. MCI's proposal over holding a single exam even for PGET has received mixed reactions in the state. On one side students feel that this will put an end to irregularities and corruption associated with the medical PG admission, while the RGUHS and state medical education officials feel that it would lead to an MCI monopoly in the admission process.

Dr. Raghavendra Gowda, a PGET aspirant said that the RGUHS PGET 2011 is the best example of how money plays a major role in PG admission. "I hope this new initiative will put an end to all the problems," he said.

Syllabus - National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)

National Eligibily cum Entrance Test (NEET)

Students aspiring to get admission in top medical colleges will have to now take a common entrance exam. From the next academic session, aspiring doctors will have to appear for a Common Entrance Test (CET).

As per the latest updates, the Union health ministry and the Medical Council of India (MCI) have reached a consensus to roll out CET for admission to all government, private medical colleges and deemed universities for MBBS course from the 2012-13 academic session.

This historic decision was taken on a meeting held on Monday (July 18) chaired by Union health secretary K Chandramouli. The meeting was also attended by officials of MCI and CBSE.

The modalities of the meeting are being worked upon. There were also talks about bringing institutes like AIIMS under CET’s ambit.

If this decision is implemented then the prestigious AIIMS won’t be able to hold its own undergraduate entrance exam. Speaking to The Times of India, an official said, “The top students can choose to join AIIMS. However, more discussions will be held on this matter. The idea is to have one single medical entrance exam in the country,” an official said.”

There are also talks to review and revise the existing medical curriculum. As per MCI governing body, the medical curriculum of medical colleges will be revised and put up on the website for public comments soon.

The new, common entrance exam will be held for MBBS courses offered by all 271 medical colleges – 138 run by governments and 133 under private management. Approximately, 8-10 lakh students are likely to appear for the maiden CET exam.

This common entrance exam will bring more transparency and uniformity in selection students for medical colleges. At the moment, there are 31,000 MBBS seats for which 17 entrance tests are held.