Attendance Shortage: 248 MBBS Students from SMS Medical College Barred for Final Exam

Jaipur: Altogether 248 MBBS students from the 2020 batch of Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Medical College, have been barred from appearing in the University Examinations in Community Medicine, which are being conducted in December 2023.

This is because only two students from the concerned batch have fulfilled the eligibility criteria regarding attendance requirements. As per the rules laid down by the National Medical Commission (NMC) and Rajasthan University of Health Sciences (RUHS), a minimum of 75% attendance in Theory and 80% attendance in Practical classes is required to be able to appear in the exams.

Issuing a notice dated 11.12.2023, the Community Medicine Department of the Medical College informed that only one student fulfilled the criteria to appear in the final MBBS Part-I University Examination in Community Medicine.

However, a faculty from the Medical College informed Edex Live that another student, who was detained due to administrative error, also qualified to appear in the exam. The final examinations for the 2020 batch are scheduled to commence from December 21 onwards.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that releasing the Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) course curriculum, NMC had mentioned that "There shall be a minimum of 75% attendance in theory and 80% in practical /clinical for eligibility to appear for the examinations in that subject. In subjects that are taught in more than one phase - the learner must have 75% attendance in theory and 80% in practical in each phase of instruction in that subject. There shall be minimum of 80% attendance in family visits under Family adoption programme."

Later NMC clarified that the attendance requirement is applicable for the MBBS supplementary examination as well. The Commission had clarified that a student with inadequate attendance will be required to take classes with the junior batch commencing in the next academic year in order to compensate for the attendance deficit and the missed classes. In that case, such a student will be allowed to appear in the examination in the next academic year.

Recently, Jaipur-based SMS Medical College's Community Medicine mentioned in a letter dated 11.12.2023 that "Only one student of Batch 2020 eligible to appear University Exams in Community Medicine being conducted in December 2023."

Writing to the Principal of the Medical College, the HoD of the Community Medicine Department added, "In continuation with the above-mentioned letter of this Dept, this is to inform you that only the following one student fulfills the criteria laid down by NMC and RUHS for appearing in the Final MBBS Part-I University Examination in Community Medicine."

As per the notice, only student fulfilled the attendance requirement as per NMC standard.

The news that only one out of 250 students of the 2020 MBBS batch were qualified to appear in the final examination soon became viral and several users on social media expressed their concern over the issue.

Also Read: Attendance of 75 percent for theory, 80 percent for practical training Necessary to Appear in MBBS Supplementary Exams: NMC

Sharing the notice, the X (formerly Twitter) of the Indian Doctor mentioned, "Only one student of MBBS 2020 Batch out of 250 is eligible to appear in Final Exam of Community Medicine at SMS,Jaipur What is this Happening"

In response to the X post, the user named Risky Doctor mentioned, "Attended half lecture of psm. Blacklisted for 7% attendance that too due to proxy. I decided I can’t go there to sleep. Thanks to those days our marks and performance were given preference over attendance."

As per the latest media report by Edex Live, a faculty member from the medical college informed on the condition of anonymity that apart from the qualified student, another student from the department, who was detained due to an error on the part of the administration, has also qualified for the exams.

Clarifying why so many students were barred from the exam, the Community Medicine Department informed that it was mainly because of the shortage of attendance, as per the NMC norms.

Commenting on the matter, the faculty member from the medical college added, "It is the NMC that lays out all these guidelines. As per the prerequisite, the students are required to attain 75 per cent attendance in theory and 80 per cent minimum attendance in practicals as it is a professional course by nature. This is apart from the internal assessment requirements."

"In the case of the 2020 batch, the department did not have attendance records for the first phase, as the classes were conducted online for that year. We only took in consideration the attendance figures for the second and third phase," he further added.

The Daily adds that the Head of the Department (HoD) of the Community Medicine Department recently held a meeting with the students and Principal of the medical college Dr. Rajeev Bagarhatta back in March 2023. At that time, the students were reportedly warned about their attendance situation. In fact, the department also held extra classes in the month of November and from December 5 to December 11 and in this way the students were reportedly given a chance to make up for their attendance deficit.

"Now, the plight of students is that they have to attend classes of Community Medicine from 8 am to 7 pm with only an hour of lunch break in between. This included four hours of theory and six hours of practical training. However, as the students were not attending these classes, they were called off," mentioned the faculty from the medical college.

As per the latest media report by the Times of India, concerned over the situation, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) of the State has now written to the medical education secretary and discussed the issue also with the SMS Medical College administration to reach a solution. The association also demanded extra classes for the students who failed to fulfill their attendance requirements.

The Daily adds that phase-II for community medicine and forensic medicine for the 2020 batch sought the help of IMA State branch and demanded additional extra-classes in whatever mode feasible. They have also demanded double posting in the morning as well as in the evening so as to cover up the deficit of PSM clinical posting.

Commenting on the matter, Dr Rajneesh Sharma, the recently elected president of IMA State Branch told TOI, "It is a matter of concern for us as almost entire batch of student was declared ineligible for appearing in examination. We held a discussion with SMS Medical College principal Dr Rajeev Bagarhatta requesting to look into the matter."

The issue of attendance deficit is not only limited to SMS Medical College, Jaipur. Earlier this year, Medical Dialogues team had reported that failing to fulfill the attendance criteria and remaining absent in classes, around 125 students from Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital in Sion and 55 students from Dr RN Cooper Medical College and General Hospital in Vile Parl were declared ineligible to take part in the exams.

Addressing this issue of attendance deficit, the faculty member from SMS Medical College, Jaipur informed Edex Live that students are more focused on preparing for the upcoming NEET-PG (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Postgraduate) Examination and therefore, they end up losing out on the MBBS training offered in the medical colleges.

He mentioned, "It is a chronic issue which has been there for the past eight to 10 years. In my interaction with these students, I found out that 50 per cent of them have not yet bought a stethoscope even after three years of MBBS training. How are these students supposed to handle lives in the future? They are more focused on attending coaching classes online for the preparation of other examinations. Even the students who have been assigned rural service or compulsory rotating medical internship (CRMI) have been found not tending to patients."

Also Read: Failed to fulfil attendance criteria as per NMC guidelines, around 180 medical students declared ineligible to appear in upcoming exams