NExT for 2019 batch of final-year medical students to be held in 2 phases

The National Exit Test (NExT) for the 2019 batch of final-year MBBS students will be held in two phases next year, official sources said on Tuesday.

According to the sources, the NExT will be conducted in two phases -- NExT Step 1 and NExT Step 2 -- by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.

The NExT Step 1 for the final-year batch is likely to be held in February 2024, the sources said.

After clearing the NExT Step 1, the students will be doing an internship for a year and the NExT Step 1 score will be considered for their admission in post-graduate courses, Dr Yogender Malik, member of the National Medical Commission's (NMC) Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB), explained.

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

Foreign medical graduates who want to practise in India will have to appear in the NExT Step 1, do the internship and then clear the NExT Step 2, he added.

"It has been decided that mock or practice tests for the NExT will be held on July 28 and the registration for the same will start from Wednesday (June 28). Only final-year students pursuing MBBS courses in medical colleges are eligible for such mock tests," Malik said.

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

The sample questions in the mock or practice tests will only exemplify the pattern and format of the NExT Step 1.

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

According to the NMC Act, the NExT 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.

NMC Chairman Dr S C Sharma addressed the final-year students and faculty of the medical colleges in the country through a video-conference on Tuesday to allay their anxiety and clear doubts regarding NExT.

Detailed regulations for conducting the NExT will be released soon, Malik said.

The government, in September last year, invoked the provisions of the NMC Act, by which the time limit for conducting the NExT for 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.