M K Stalin opposes NExT, calls it additional burden on medical students

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday strongly opposed the National Exit Test (NExT), with Chief Minister M K Stalin telling the Centre it was an additional burden on medical students and also saw it as "another attempt to dilute the role of State Governments and universities in the health sector."

According to the National Medical Commission (NMC) Act, NExT will serve as a common qualifying final year MBBS exam, a licentiate exam to practice modern medicine and for merit-based admission to postgraduate courses and a screening exam for foreign medical graduates who want to practice in India.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Stalin said the Government of Tamil Nadu has been consistent in its opposition to the introduction of NEET (National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test) and NExT in any form for both undergraduate and postgraduate medical admissions.

"The NEET based medical admission system under the National Medical Commission (NMC) Act has already adversely impacted the equitable, school education based selection process and its contribution to the strengthening of the public health system.

The introduction of National Exit Test (NExT) will be an additional burden on our young medical students, who already have a rigorous academic load. It will force them to focus more on the theoretical part of medicine during their course and internships and is bound to hamper… pic.twitter.com/v4xHchIx3K

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) June 13, 2023

At this juncture, the proposed introduction of NExT will surely exacerbate this trend and cause an irreparable damage to the interest of rural and socially disadvantaged students and the public institutions under State Governments," the CM told Modi.

In all the states of the country, the curriculum for medical education is already being devised under the norms fixed by the NMC. The curricula, training and examination system are monitored vigilantly by the respective State Medical Universities, Stalin said. The students are awarded MBBS degree in recognised colleges, only after such rigorous training and examinations.

"In this situation, the introduction of such a common exit test will definitely be an additional burden on the students. Given the high academic burden and stress faced by our medical students this needs to be strictly avoided. In addition, the introduction of such a course as a mandatory exit test will also hamper the clinical learning, which is vital for MBBS graduates," Stalin told the PM.

He said young graduates focus both on the theoretical and clinical aspects of medical science and only after graduation, the students who opt for PG admissions focus on theoretical PG exams. But the introduction of mandatory exit exam will force them to focus more on the theoretical part of medicine during their course and internships.

"This is bound to hamper development of adequate clinical skills." "In light of the above, I again wish to re-emphasise that the introduction of NExT is neither in the interest of the students nor in the interest of state governments who fund most of the medical institutions. This step seems to be just another attempt to dilute the role of State governments and universities in the health sector and to centralise the powers with the Union government. Therefore, I once again request that NExT should not be introduced and the existing system be continued," he said.

NExT will be held next year and is likely to be conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi.

The government had in September last year invoked the provisions of the NMC Act by which the time limit for conducting NExT for the final year MBBS was extended till September 2024.

Under the NMC Act, the Commission has to conduct a common final year undergraduate medical examination, NExT, as specified by regulations within three years of it coming into force. The Act came into force in September 2020.