NMC Bill: Will NEXT bring parity between Indian and foreign candidates

NEW DELHI, MAY 22: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is likely to introduce the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill in the Monsoon session of the Parliament. One of the key provisions of the Bill is the introduction of exit exam for medical graduates which will also serve as the screening test for doctors with foreign medical qualifications by replacing Foreign Medical Graduates Exam (FMGE).

If NMC Bill is approved in its present form National Exit Test (NEXT) will become a mandatory licentiate exam for MBBS graduates to practice in India. Similar to FMGE, the Indian citizen/Overseas citizens of India will be required to take NEXT who have completed MBBS course from a foreign country.

Who is eligible to take NEXT?

As specified in the NMC Bill, NEXT will be made mandatory for candidates pursuing MBBS across India and outside India. It will grant a license to medical practitioners and register them with National Register or State Register. The foreign graduates who are enrolled in their country as medical practitioners in accordance with the law regulating the registration of medical practitioners of that country may be permitted temporary registration.

It remains shrouded in mystery that whether the foreign medical graduates have to appear for NEXT or not. Furthermore, the medical graduates who have completed MBBS from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States of America holding a postgraduate medical qualification from the above-mentioned countries are exempted from FMGE. Whether the clause remains same for NEXT can only be confirmed after the commencement of the Act.

Changes NEXT will bring

With NEXT scrapping University level exam and replacing FMGE, it will bring parity between the candidates pursuing MBBS from the country and outside the country. The number of candidates who qualify FMGE is very less. The idea of holding the exam for foreign medical graduates is to check whether they are compatible enough to practice medicine in the country.

The move will certainly clarify whether the foreign medical education is on par with the Indian medical education system. “At present, the National Board of Examination conducts the Foreign Medical Graduate Test annually for foreign graduates wanting to practice medicine in India. We propose to merge FMG test in NEXT so that the Indian graduates and foreign graduates are tested against the same yardstick and a uniform standard of quality of practicing doctors is ensured,” a health ministry source said.

Improving the quality of medical education

Earlier this year, NEET was also made mandatory for students wanting to pursue MBBS abroad. With regard to this the ministry source said, “On an average, 12.5 percent of the students writing the foreign medical graduates test would pass. This failed pool of talent would end up in quackery. Now we have decided that students going abroad to study medicine must clear NEET if they want to return to write the national exam later and practice medicine at home. The idea is to improve the quality of foreign medical graduates returning to India to practice.”

It is believed that NEXT will be similar to The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) administered by Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. The test is used for licensing as well as entry to residency programmes for domestic and foreign medical graduates.