NEET now mandatory to pursue foreign medical programmes; Health Ministry approves MCI proposal

New Delhi: The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) which is the gateway to all government and private medical and dental colleges in India except for AIIMS and JIPMER, has been now made mandatory for admission to pursue medical courses abroad.

 “The proposal of Medical Council of India (MCI) to amend the Screening Test Regulations, 2002, making it mandatory to qualify NEET to pursue foreign medical course has been approved by this Ministry,” read an official communication from Ministry of Health and Welfare under which all medical programmes operate in India.

Thus, the Indian Citizens and Overseas Citizen of India intending to obtain primary medical qualification from any medical institution outside India, on or after May 2018, shall have to mandatorily qualify the NEET for admission to MBBS course abroad.

“The result of NEET shall be deemed to be treated as the Eligibility Certificate for such persons, provided that such persons fulfil the eligibility criteria for admission to the MBBS course prescribed in the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997,” it read.

To qualify NEET 2018, candidates from general category will be required to score equal to or more than the 50th percentile and those belonging to reserved categories (OBC/SC/ST) will be required to get at least 40th percentile.

Currently, Indian students who pursue medical programmes abroad need to qualify a Screening Test called Foreign Medical Graduates Exam (FMGE), for registration to practice in India after obtaining primary medical qualification (MBBS) overseas.

According to the ministry officials, the new rule is aimed at filtering candidates, interested in pursuing medical programme abroad, basis the standard assessment process applicable for admission to medical colleges in India.

“Indian students can also pursue medical education abroad and have to qualify a Screening Test called Foreign Medical Graduates Exam (FMGE), for registration to practice in India after obtaining primary medical qualification (MBBS) overseas. It has come to notice that medical institutions / Universities of foreign countries admit Indian students without proper assessment or screening of the students’ academic ability to cope up with medical education with the result that many students fail to qualify the Screening Test,” read the official notification from the ministry.

NEET was made mandatory by a 2016 Supreme Court order which scrapped all other medical entrance tests except those for admission to AIIMS and JIPMER.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will conduct NEET 2018 on May 6, 2018 in offline mode. NEET is conducted annually to for admissions to MBBS and BDS courses in medical and dental institutions across the country. NEET 2018 application form has begun from February 8, 2018.

In 2017, NEET received as many as 11,38,890 registrations for admissions to approximately 90,000 MBBS and BDS seats on offer in medical and dental colleges across the country.