Will COVID-19 duty count as internship? UP, Bihar’s MBBS students ask

NEW DELHI: Undergraduate students of medicine who are yet to complete their final MBBS examinations are worried. They have been pressed into service in COVID-19 wards in response to the sharp surge in cases, a decision that was taken after a high-level meeting chaired by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, on May 3.

Although the National Medical Commission (NMC) had issued an advisory on April 9 to all the universities to conduct the final MBBS examinations as per their original schedule, students in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Kerala are yet to write their MBBS final exams. In the case of the last, exams have been rescheduled to the end of May. According to students, exams are pending in over 50 colleges in UP alone.

The final MBBS examinations were put on hold midway in these states and the students deployed on COVID duty. In most other states, exams had already taken place.

MBBS students in UP seek clarification

Incomplete exams spell trouble for students. Soon after PM Modi’s announcement, the NMC issued directions to count COVID duty as part of the compulsory internship students must complete to obtain the MBBS degrees. However, that internship must follow the final exams.

Students placed on COVID duty before completing the exams fear that their work may not count toward the compulsory internship. If that happens, they are looking at delays of over a year in their careers. They will have to again complete a full year of internship after the exams are held -- whenever that happens -- and may miss out on the next round of the postgraduate entrance exam, NEET PG, as well. NEET PG 2021 was postponed by four months during the same meeting with PM Modi but students may miss out on next year’s round.

"One has to complete one year of internship after completing MBBS. Now we are worried. We have already lost two months. Why I consider them lost is because for many of us in Uttar Pradesh, our duty will not be counted as internship duty," said a final-year MBBS student on condition of anonymity.

"When will our exams be over? We request that we be given an MBBS degree based on the internal assessment. It is only then that whatever duty we do will be counted as internship", added another student from Uttar Pradesh.

Ujjwal Mishra, the state president of a medical students association group, Global Association of Indian Medical Students (GAIMS), has written to RK Vats, secretary, National Medical Commission, seeking clarification regarding the COVID duty period before completing MBBS examination.

"Are COVID duties before passing the final professional examination valid as the usual compulsory rotatory internships? Also, if these students are unable to complete their internship before NEET PG, will they be allowed to appear for it [ NEET PG]?" Mishra has asked.

Further, Mishra has also written to the UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, seeking clarification on “impending examinations and the validity of the duty done by the interns without passing the said exam”.

The students have also sought an improved supply of protective gear for the students and the inclusion of all MBBS interns under the government healthcare worker insurance scheme.

Bihar, Jharkhand: NEET PG 2022

Students in Bihar are in a similar situation. "We are forced to do the duty without qualifying. Our final-year examination is not over as yet," said a student of Patna Medical College.

The students in Bihar also are demanding completion of the final-year exam and certificates awarded based on the internal assessment.

"We don't have any issue doing COVID duty, but the period we are serving should be counted as our internship period. This will help us appear for NEET PG next year,” said a student from a state-run medical college in Jharkhand.

While in many of the institutions in these states students could appear for theory papers in one subject only, in others, the examinations did not start at all.

The students are also demanding a stipend for all students and interns who will be on COVID duty in any hospital.

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