With NExT from 2023, KEA no longer in charge of PG Medical Counselling

Bengaluru: With National Exit Test (NExT) replacing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) Examination from the coming academic year, Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) will no longer conduct the counselling for PG medical seats in Karnataka.

Not only this, the State will be left with a very little role in seat sharing, counselling and fixing fees for the PG medical courses as well, adds The Hindu.

Speaking about this, the Director of the Directorate of Medical Education, Karnataka, B.L. Sujatha Rathod has informed that with the implementation of NExT, the entire process will be online and centralised.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that NExT, a common exit exam envisaged by the government to standardize medical education across the country, was proposed by NMC as a part of the bill passed in the year 2019.

Section 15 of the NMC Act provides for the conduct of a common final year undergraduate examination, to be known as the National Exit Test (NExT) which shall be the basis for Registration to practice medicine, admission to PG medical courses and Screening Test for foreign medical graduates to practice modern medicine.

The NExT was supposed to be operational within three years from the commencement of the NMC Act, 2019 i.e. 25th September 2022 and conducted through a designated authority and in such a manner as may be specified by regulations. The Act came into force in September 2020.

Recently, NMC finally released the proposed draft regulations related to National Exit Test (NExT) and put an end to the speculations regarding the manner of the exam and its other details.

Also Read: Who will conduct NEXT exam? This body..as per Health Ministry

Although the draft provided all the details related to the NExT exam detailing its objective, applicability, its bifurcation into STEP 1 and STEP 2 and how these two steps examinations be conducted as well as the calculations and validity and the uses of the NeXT scores, it did not specify which body will conduct the exam.

Finally, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has offered some clarifications in this regard with its proposed amendments to the NMC Act 2019. The Union Government has proposed to dissolve the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), and replace it with Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (BEMS) as the Fifth Autonomous Board under the NMC.

As per the latest media report by The Hindu, with implementation of NExT, Karnataka will have little authority in seat sharing, counselling and fixing fees for postgraduate medical courses from the coming academic year. After the Draft National Medical Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2022 being passed, the Exit Test will be conducted in December this year by the National Board of Examination or the Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (BEMS).

Referring to this, the Director of the Directorate of Medical Education, Karnataka, B.L. Sujatha Rathod told the daily, “Once NExT is instituted, in all probability from December, the State’s involvement in PG medical seat sharing with colleges, counselling and fee fixation will be very minimal. Presently, PG medical seat counselling is being carried out by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), but with NExT it will be held virtually by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences. With no provision for physical interaction, the entire process will be online and centralised. NExT will give more uniformity in medical courses entrance tests and avoid the long counselling schedule, cancellation of seats and other problems.”

Currently, the seat sharing ratio between the government and the private medical colleges and deemed-to-be-universities is 40:60. Sources in the directorate informed the daily that, as per the NMC order, the seat sharing will be done on 50:50 basis and the fees for the government quota seats will be on par with the government medical colleges. Therefore, more PG medical seats will become available for the aspirants under the government quota. While the NMC order has been challenged by several private medical colleges, no college has done so in Karnataka, adds The Hindu.

Also Read: Breaking News: NMC releases Draft gazette on NEXT with details, invites comments; Check out complete Breakdown