Kerala Private Medical Colleges oppose Postponement of MBBS exams, write to Governor

In a letter to the Governor, they have expressed various concerns including the fact that delaying the examinations would lead towards an acute shortage of house surgeons in the State amidst the second wave of the Pandemic.

MBBS students admitted during 2019-20 were appearing for the last phase of the practical examinations scheduled to conclude this weekend. The final year MBBS exams that were originally scheduled for February 2021 has been revised and will be conducted in May 2021.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that as per the circular of Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) released in November 2020, the MBBS exam for the final year students had been scheduled for April. Thus, there was already a 4-5 months delay in conducting the exams.

Also Read: Kerala house surgeons oppose extension of internship by 3 months, threaten infinite strike

As per the recent media report by the Times of India, the Governor, after receiving representations from various sections of the public, instructed the universities on Sunday to postpone examinations that were scheduled to begin this week. These requests were made considering the second wave of Covid-19 and the increasing numbers of cases.

Following this, all the universities, including Kerala University of Health Sciences postponed the examinations.

Expressing concern over the situation, Kerala Private Medical College Management Association secretary V Anil Kumar in a letter to the governor wrote, "Students belonging to various batches of MBBS course had taken the RT-PCR tests and only those who are negative are admitted to the hostel and are continuing their studies. Majority of students have also taken Covid vaccination."

Meanwhile, National Medical Commission too opined conducting exams as per the schedule.

Medical Dialogues had recently reported that amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the National Medical Commission (NMC) had issued an advisory to all the medical colleges concerning the conduct of MBBS examinations. Via its recent notifications, the apex medical regulator had advised all medical colleges and universities to adhere to the existing norms to conduct the final MBBS (Part-I & Part-2) Theory and Practical, 2nd MBBS and Supplementary (1st and 2nd) MBBS examinations.