Mock National Exit Test for final-year MBBS students to be held on July 28

The AIIMS Delhi will conduct a mock National Exit Test (NExT) for the 2019 batch of final-year MBBS students on July 28.

According to a notification issued by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), General/OBC candidates will have to pay Rs 2,000 each to appear in the mock test, while SC/ST/EWS applicant will have to pay Rs 1,000.

Persons with benchmark disabilities will not have to pay any fee to appear in the examination.

The AIIMS Delhi has been entrusted with the job of conducting the mock test.

It will be a computer-based examination consisting of multiple-choice questions, sources said.

The aim of conducting such a mock test is to familiarise the prospective candidates with the computer-based test, software interface and process flow in the examination centre.

The National Exit Test (NExT) will be held next year for the 2019 batch of final-year MBBS students in two phases -- NExT Step 1 and NExT Step 2.

The NExT Step 1 for final-year batch is likely to be held in February next year, sources said.

After clearing the NExT Step 1, they will be doing an internship for one year and the same score of NExT Step 1 will be considered for their admission into postgraduate courses, Dr Yogender Malik, member of the NMC's Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) explained.

After internship, medical students will have to clear NExT Step 2 to become eligible for getting licence and registration to practise modern medicine in India, Dr Malik said.

Foreign medical graduates who want to practise in India will have to appear in NExT Step 1 and do the internship and then clear NExT Step 2 to become eligible to practise in India, Dr Malik stated.

The sample questions in the mock/practice test will only exemplify the pattern and format of NExT Step 1 examination.

The NExT Step 1 examination will have six subject papers with respective weightage in items and time allocation.

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

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

According to 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. The timeline was extended last year.