The National Medical Commission (NMC) declared that the National Exit Test (NExT) exam has been deferred till further notice on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The NExT will replace the National Eligibility Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET PG) for admission to postgraduate medical programmes and medical licenses.
"All the stakeholders are hereby informed that the National Exit Test (NEXT) examination is deferred on the advice of the Ministry, dated 11.07.2023, till further directions from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (Dr. Pulkesh Kumar) Secretary, NMC," according to an official notification by the NMC notice.
Recently, union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the NExT exam would not be implemented for the 2019 MBBS batch during an interaction with the students of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Raipur. The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) thanked the minister and NMC for the step.
"We thank MoHFW_INDIA and mansukhmandviya & ianilradadiya sir for their promptness in resolving the situation at hand and stepping in at the right time. We hope the upcoming draft is much more student friendly and rationale (for all IMGs & FMGEs). We are working closely with NMC_IND and MoHFW_INDIA to ensure the same," it said in a tweet.
The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) also took to Twitter and commented, "NEXT deferred till further order. We once again thanks Hon'ble Health Minister Shri mansukhmandviya for this. We need to make a lot of changes in the proposed NEXT exam. All the best to students for NEET PG AND FINAL MBBS." NMC had announced that AIIMS Delhi will be conducting the NExT exam.
The test will be held in two steps – step 1 and step 2, and both will be held twice a year. While NExT step 1 will be conducted in the months of May and November every year, step 2 will be held in June and December.
NMC had also announced a NExT mock test scheduled for 28 July in two shifts for students to get an idea. AIIMS Delhi closed the registration for the mock test on 10 July. The commission had been criticized for the mock test fee by students and doctors.