NEW DELHI: Following doctors written letter to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare appealing for the extension of the cut-off date to finish MBBS internships, beyond March 31, the National Medical Commission (NMC) is actively considering the matter.
On January 7, a day after the Post Graduate National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET-PG) date was announced (to be held on March 5), the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association shot the letter. Otherwise, this would render about 40,000 to 50,000 MBBS students ineligible for the examinations, said the Doctors Association.
“Once they indicate a change we will re-issue the NEET-PG bulletin,” a senior official from the National Board of Examinations (NBE) said, adding that “We will not take any step which is detrimental to the future of the MBBS students.”
"We will not take any measure which is detrimental to the future of the MBBS students," a senior official from the NMC reaffirmed.
Delays brought on by COVID's final two years had prevented many MBBS students from completing the year-long internship they started in their fourth year. The completion dates for the internships for the MBBS students varied from April to November 2023, per data gathered by FORDA from 23 States.
The internships will end, for instance, in Bihar sometime in August. The internships in Chattisgarh won't end until November. The health system as a whole was preoccupied with pandemic damage control when the students finally began their internships. In order to fill a labour shortfall during COVID, the majority of them were instructed to report for hospital posts, according to FORDA president Aviral Mathur.
MBBS doctors from all around India wrote to FORDA after the NEET-PG dates were released asking for the postponement of the internship date cut-offs and the cancellation of the NEET-PG tests altogether.
"Avoiding the NEET-PG tests entirely has pros and cons. NEET-PG was held in May of 2022, but due to the huge pandemonium that followed, admissions didn't happen until five months later," Mathur said.
This year's NEET-PG tests were anticipated to draw more than a lakh MBBS candidates.
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