COURTESY HT NOV 27

NEET PG exam may be deferred
Rhythma Kaul

letters@hindustantimes.com

New Delhi :  The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for postgraduate studies in medicine and surgery is likely to be delayed by at least a month, and could be held in February because of the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic that has hindered classroom teaching, tutorials, practical classes and laboratory and clinical training of undergraduate medical students, according to government officials familiar with the situation .

The exam used to be held in January. Since March, medical colleges, like other educational institutions, have been shut and classes are being conducted online, leaving no scope for hands-on training during internship that is important for award of undergraduate degrees and students’ eligibility to apply for postgraduate studies. The National Medical Commission (NMC), the country’s medical education regulator, had written to the ministry of health and family welfare about the need for reopening of medical colleges, especially for the undergraduate medical courses, to ensure students didn’t lose precious time and there were no more delays in the coming academic sessions.

“Delay in completing internship of MBBS students would eventually affect the PG entrance exam and also the start of next academic session. As it is, undergraduate courses are delayed by at least four months because of the pandemic and we need to look at compensating for the lost time. Experts are deliberating over how best to solve the problem,” said a senior official in the health ministry, requesting not to be identified.

About 160,000 candidates take the NEET each year, competing for around 40,000 postgraduate medical seats that also includes courses in dental science. The government is planning to re-open medical colleges on December 1 so that undergraduate medical students get time to finish clinical training necessary to apply for the PG entrance exam. NMC officials fear further delay in reopening of medical colleges would mean losing out on about 80,000 doctors in the long term.

In its advisory to the health ministry, NMC said: “Delay in reopening of medical colleges has the potential of a null year for the academic year 2021-22, which could result in non-availability of 80,000 doctors five years later… Delay in resuming the training would have a cascading effect on training of next PG and super-speciality courses in the coming years…”

According to the tentative timeline, apart from reopening medical colleges on December 1, the Centre is likely to begin the new MBBS batch from February 2021; conduct the PG NEET exam around March-April, and begin the PG session by July 1.

The government directive is applicable to both government and private medical colleges and deemed universities, and the states have been asked to make necessary arrangements..

Most medical colleges have received the government directive, and are beginning preparations to reopen.

“The government directive has to be followed, and we will be making adequate arrangements after having a consultation with the relevant people looking after academic affairs,” said a senior administrative official,from New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), requesting anonymity.

An administrative official from Safdarjung Hospital’s medical college said, also on condition of anonymity: “There are always ways to compensate for the lost time such as increasing study hours; holding extra classes on holidays; reducing summer or winter vacation days etc.