NEET PG 2023 could be the last such examination, admissions to be based on the results of NExT

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Postgraduate (NEET-PG) scheduled for April-May next year could be the last such examination as the admission to PG medical courses thereafter will be based on the results of the National Exit Test to be taken by final-year MBBS students, officials have said.

In a high-level meeting chaired on Monday, the National Medical Commission (NMC) informed the Union Health Ministry that it intends to conduct the National Exit Test (NExT) in December 2023, official sources said on Wednesday.

If held in December 2023, MBBS students of the 2019-2020 batch will have to appear for the exam. The results of the exam will also be used for admission to postgraduate medical courses from the 2024-2025 batch, they said.

The government had invoked in September the relevant provisions of the NMC Act to extend the time limit for conducting NExT is till September 2024. According to the act, NExT will serve as a common qualifying final-year MBBS exam, a licentiate exam to practise modern medicine and for merit-based admission to postgraduate courses and a screening exam for foreign medical graduates who want to practice in India.

The Act came into force in September 2020. The sources said the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi may conduct the test instead of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences, but a decision on the matter is yet to be taken.