New Delhi: The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), the qualifying examination for undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) medical students in India, has been dropped from the schedule over the past few years due to the Covid pandemic, resulting in a lot of stress among those in the medical fraternity. Parts say doctors and stressed-out students are overworked.
Conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), NEET for Undergraduates is traditionally scheduled to be conducted in the first week of May and for Post Graduates in the month of January.
But in 2020, where NEET-PG happened on time, NEET-UG got delayed until September.
In 2021, NEET-PG twice delayed, from January to April and then to September. The delay that year was also caused by a case in the Supreme Court. review Income criteria for determining the Economically Weaker Section quota for NEET admission. In 2021, NEET-UG was again held in September instead of May.
In 2022, PG exams were held in May, while UG exams were held in July.
As a result of the delay, the subsequent counseling (or admission process) has also been derailed.
For example, the final round of counseling for 1,311 seats for the NEET-PG exam held in May last year is still underway. This means there are over 1,000 medical seats for 2022 still empty in colleges across India.
As per the normal schedule, the counseling starts within two months of the result declaration. Students say that it has now been extended for four to six months.
Finish in 2022 18 lakh students Appeared for NEET-UG and above 2 lakh candidates Appeared in PG Exam.
Since NEET is a highly competitive exam, delay in its schedule has cost students and medical institutions a heavy price, say doctors and experts.
“The delayed examination has caused immense stress among the present medical staff. In the months leading up to the due dates of first-year (PG) students, doctors have to put in double the working hours,” Dr Manish (known only by his first name), a resident doctor at Safdarjung Hospital, told ThePrint. told .
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schedule messed up
The regular session for undergraduate medical students who qualify NEET begins in August, while for PG students it begins in May.
Explaining the chain effect of delay in the examination, Dr. Manish said, ‘PG medical course is of three years. The undergraduate batch takes exams and goes as per schedule, but first year students are joining late by eight to nine months. We work in hospitals and one-third of the staff is missing. Due to this, 24-hour shifts which are allotted to each doctor about five times in a month are now being allotted 10-12 times in a month.
Terming such working hours as “inhuman”, he said that “a 24-hour shift often ends up becoming a 36-hour shift”.
Dr Gaurav Gupta of Resonance Coaching Center in Kota said, while the exam schedule for school students preparing for NEET-UG is constantly getting delayed, stress is on the rise along with lack of motivation.
“Delayed exams have a two-pronged effect – first it shortens the first year of college for students. This is the year they learn the basics of the human body. If this year turns out to be bad, there is a negative impact on their learning curve,” he said.
Secondly, he said, students prepare according to a schedule, and if the exams are delayed, their entire routine gets thrown out of gear, affecting their performance.
NEET-UG is the qualifying examination for admission to Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS), Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery (BAMS), Bachelor of Siddha Medicine and Surgery (BSMS). Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery (BUMS), and Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS) and B.Sc (H) Nursing courses.
After undergraduate medical studies, a one-year internship is mandatory for aspiring doctors.
recent controversies
NTA trying to get NEET exam back on schedule, and for 2023 announced UG exam will be held in May and PG exam will be held in March.
But a section of NEET-PG candidates are demanding adjournment The exam is being conducted again this year to get more time for preparation and to reduce the gap between result declaration and admission process. Many candidates whose internship does not end by the deadline set by the Ministry of Health will also be ineligible to appear for the exam in March.
The deadline for internships varies across institutes and states, but according to students ThePrint spoke to, earlier most states used to complete internships by November-December, allowing students to appear for January PG exams Used to go However, in the past two years, due to the pandemic, the academic years have also not always followed the schedule, leading to varying internship end dates.
However, rejecting the demand for postponement, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya Said In Parliament last Friday: “We have decided that students who have completed their internship by August 2023 will be allowed to sit for the exams so that no university in the country is left out of the process.”
He said: “The exam is due on March 5, and it was announced five months back. So, the students who want to prepare are preparing for the exam. If I keep postponing it, we will be in a situation where earlier it was delayed by seven or eight months. Then there was a delay of four months. The entire channel was broken due to Covid. It’s important to get it right,” he said.
Last year, Candidate Those who had cleared NEET-PG to be held in September 2021 had triggered protests across the country demanding quick counselling.
This year too, with PG exams scheduled for March and counseling scheduled for September, aspiring doctors will be able to join the medical workforce only by the end of the year, say those in the profession.
(Editing by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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