NEET 2019 made mandatory to study Medicine Abroad

For upon |Now students planning to pursue medicine courses in abroad must compulsorily appear in NEET 2019. We have the complete details here.

Jagat Prakash Nadda, the Union Health Minister, had given clearance to the proposal of Medical Council of India’s (MCI) to make NEET as a compulsory requirement for studying medicine courses in foreign universities, a decision that affects thousands of students opting for medical education in countries like Russia, China, Nepal, Ukraine and others.

Also, in a recent bid to ease off students’ burden, the Delhi High Court made amendment to the same regulation of MCI, clearing that the students who have already applied abroad this year but could not clear NEET 2018 may continue to study as this would cause lot of inconvenience. On the contrary, the court upheld the MCI’s decision to make NEET mandatory for students applying abroad from next year, 2019.

The court also added that in case a medical aspirant fails to qualify or achieve minimum required percentiles in NEET 2019, then he or she will be not be considered eligible to study medicine in any foreign university. The order has been issued in line of several petitions that challenged the MCI amendments – Screening Test Regulations, 2002 and Foreign Medical Institution Regulations, 2002.

The Prerequisite
Out of the total 12 Lac students who appear in NEET every year for undergraduate admissions to medical courses, only 6 Lac students qualify to occupy one of the 68,000 MBBS seats across India. The remaining students either opt for BDS, Ayush courses in Ayurveda, Naturopathy, Homeopathy, Siddha and Unani. Even after this, around 4 Lac students have no option and look out for other avenues.

As per official stats, around two-three thousand students go abroad to study medicine. The students who return back to India to practice profession on completion of the course are required to qualify a screening test called the Foreign Medical Graduates Exam (FMGE). It is a licensure exam conducted by the MCI. The screening test is a prerequisite to obtain registration license from MCI and continue practice in India.

Citing Reasons  
But why such regulations in first place? The reasons are clear and valid. As per the medical institutions and universities in India, the students seeking admissions abroad are granted admissions on the basis of contacts and money without any proper screening or assessment. As per MCI’s point of view such candidates enrolled in foreign institutions find it very difficult to complete the basic medical courses. Consequently, when these students return back to India after completion of studies fail to qualify FMGE to register for practice.

According to official statistics, merely 12-15% of the total medical graduates returning back home manage to pass FMGE. Without acquiring FMGE certification, they can’t be registered to under MCI. It ultimately leads to illegal practices which are dangerous for the profession. Such candidates can never contribute to the healthcare sector of India.

So the system of NEET will regulate entry of competent students only in medical education in foreign universities. But students have always complained about exam being tough but the committee of experts who have also taken up the exam have never found so.

This highlights the quality of education students are receiving in our schools and what we are getting back in return. Presently, students need only minimum 50% marks in class 12th to seek admission abroad. And securing 50% marks isn’t a difficult call for students these days, which is why we have the MCI’s decision.

Once we have the new proposal in place, only competent students qualifying NEET will be given a No Objection Certificate (NOC), hence pushing the students to work hard and making them competent enough.