MBBS exams compulsory, MCI relaxes norms for appointing examiners

NEW DELHI: The Board of Governors (BoG) of the Medical Council of India (MCI) on Tuesday issued a circular stating that exams are compulsory before promotion to the next level of studies in the medicine (MBBS). It added that universities must aim to complete the year’s course and hold exams within two months of colleges reopening.

However, the MCI has relaxed the norms for appointing external examiners for undergraduate medical courses in 2020. It has allowed universities to appoint examiners from other universities within the state and even invigilation via video conferencing.

The BoG issued a notification on Wednesday saying that the relaxation in the provisions has been granted in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Typically, examiners are appointed from other states.

The notification from the secretary-general BoG, Dr R K Vats, said that the measures have been taken “considering the risk stratification of the areas where the medical colleges or institutions are located, and the examiners are not available from outside the state”.

MBBS exam schedule

Each college should aim to complete the first year MBBS course within two months of reopening of colleges as permitted by the central, state or Union Territory, says the circular. They need to complete the first university exam as soon as possible.

Also, the pending supplementary examinations for final-year MBBS students scheduled for the first half of 2020 should be completed at the earliest. These students, the notification says, need not wait for the formal reopening of the colleges as they need to join medical college or hospitals for their internship just after passing final year examinations.

The university exam for the second and third (Part -1) MBBS students may have to be delayed by two or three months beyond their scheduled dates.

MBBS examiners

The MCI has eased the process of appointing examiners and allowed universities various options they can choose from depending on the situation. Universities can have external examiners from a different university but from the same state physically present at the exam venue; if that is not possible, half the examiners may be physically present during the examination and the other half through video conferencing.

In case no examiner can be physically present, the university can appoint examiners from two different universities from other states and have them all participate through video conferencing. The last option is for states where all medical colleges are affiliated to the same university. In that case, medical colleges may engage external examiners from any other college under the state health university. Here, the examiners should be physically present during the examination.

The exam schedule and the appointment of external examiners for final year post-graduate examination shall remain the same as that of MBBS university examination.

The provisions, the notification said, has been arrived at after considering the representations received from students, colleges, universities regarding the reopening of medical colleges and conducting the examinations.

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