The move is an attempt to control the quality of students entering the MBBS programme so that the outcome standards improve
It will now be mandatory for students planning to pursue MBBS in foreign medical colleges to clear a common National Entrance Exam that is the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). NEET is already mandatory for admission to all medical courses in the country.
At present, Indian students who have pursued medical education abroad have to, on their return qualify a Screening Test called Foreign Medical Graduates Exam (FMGE), for registration to practice in India after obtaining primary medical qualification (MBBS) overseas. However the average pass percentage in the screening test is very poor, usually in the range of 10-20%.
Two favourite destinations where indian students travel to study medicine are Russia and China even though the quality of the graduates who come back has always been in doubt. There are of course also students who go to study in some of the most elite foreign institutions on sheer merit
A statement issued by the Union ministry of health on Tuesday said: “It has come to notice that medical institutions / Universities of foreign countries admit Indian students without proper assessment or screening of the students’ academic ability to cope up with medical education with the result that many students fail to qualify the Screening Test. In this regard, the proposal of Medical Council of India (MCI) to amend the Screening Test Regulations, 2002, making it mandatory to qualify NEET to pursue foreign medical course has been approved by this Ministry.”
Indian students, depending on their merit and spending power have been travelling to many countries across the world to study medicine. However two favourites seem to to be Russia and China even though the quality of the graduates who come back has always been in doubt. There are of course also students who go to study in some of the most elite foreign institutions on sheer merit.
After the ministry’s decision, all Indian Citizens / Overseas Citizen of India intending to obtain primary medical qualification from any medical institution outside India, on or after May 2018, shall have to mandatorily qualify the NEET for admission to MBBS course abroad. The result of NEET will be treated as the Eligibility Certificate for such persons, provided that such persons fulfils the eligibility criteria for admission to the MBBS course prescribed in the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997. This certificate is essential for any student travelling abroad to study.
