SRINAGAR: The National Board of Examination cut off date of March 31, 2023 for completion of internship for MBBS students to be eligible to apply for NEET-PG 2023 will render several thousand final year MBBS students ineligible to appear for the examination scheduled for March 5.
Students in many medical colleges in many states will be completing their internships between April and June, as postings for the year-long internships were given late in 2022 due to the Covid19 pandemic.
While many students in deemed universities such as SRM University will complete their internship in April, those in state-run medical colleges will complete the same in April.
NEET PG is an entrance test for students who have completed 4.5 years of MBBS and a year of internship. Upon the qualification, the students become eligible for admission in MS and MD and PG Diploma courses.
The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) expressed their concern about the issue in a series of tweets. They mentioned that fifty per cent of the interns are ineligible for the upcoming NEET PG and it is putting their career on stake. They put focus on resolving the issue and saving the future of students.
Across India, batch 2017 is pursuing their internship and they have to appear in NEET PG this year. In Jammu and Kashmir, batch 2017 is undergoing their final examinations currently. Batch 2016 is yet to complete their internship. It will be ended on March 7, 2023, which makes them eligible for NEET PG. “The delay is due to conditions in 2016, delay of results and late conduct of exams,” said a student of batch 2016 who is preparing for NEET PG.
It is the same situation in various other states outside Jammu and Kashmir.
“No medico studying in the regular batch will be eligible to write NEET-PG 2023. In many state most colleges will be eligible only if the last date is fixed on June 15 2023,” said state Medical Council in Punjab. “The National Board of Examination seeking change in the deadline for completion of internship.” In Punjab, the state health department has also received representations from heads of colleges, students and parents,
The information bulletin released by the National Board of Examination, a body which conducts NEET-PG – an eligibility-cum-ranking examination prescribed as the single entrance examination for admission to MD/MS and PG diploma courses .
“Requests for appearing in NEET-PG 2023 from candidates completing internship after 31st March 2023 or having qualifications that are not recognized as per the NMC Act, 2019 and the repealed IMC Act, 1956 shall be summarily rejected. Candidates are further advised not to canvass for the same.”
The deadline for submitting applications for the exams ends by January 27, and the National Board of Examination will issue admit cards for the exam by February 27. Medical students and professors at medical college in many states say the Centre’s rule is unfair.
“The entire batch will be affected if the rule is not revised. They will have to waste one year for no fault of theirs. Their classes were disturbed, exams were postponed and postings were delayed due to Covid. Why should we students who worked so hard, be punished?” asked a student from the state-run government medical college in Punjab
(Vijay Garg and Maleeha Sofi contributed to this report)
