The Central government is making all efforts to ensure the National Exit Test (NExT) to get a license to practice medicine in India, which will be conducted in the first half of 2023 as per the roadmap, said Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday.

The Minister chaired a review meeting with the National Medical Commission (NMC) and discussed important issues of medical education.

As apprised by NMC officials in the meeting, efforts are underway to ensure that the NExT will be conducted in the first half of 2023. To test the procedure and remove anxiety among medical students, a mock run is also being planned and will be conducted in 2022.

It was also discussed that the results of NExT — Step 1 and 2 — will then be used for the qualifying final MBBS exam, to get a license to practice modern medicine in India and for merit-based allocation of post-graduate (PG) seats in broad specialities. Ways to make NExT an examination of world-class standards were also discussed.

The importance of the NExt exam lies in the fact that it will be the same for everyone whether trained in India or any part of the world and hence it will solve the problem of foreign medical graduates (FMGs)/mutual recognition.

Addressing the meeting, Mandaviya emphasised that the Union government is committed to creating quality medical education and transparent examination infrastructure and health services and is working with all stakeholders to achieve this objective.

The NMC has been established by an Act of Parliament known as the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, which came into force on September 25, 2020, with the objective of improving access to quality and affordable medical education, ensuring adequate and high-quality medical professionals in all parts of India and to provide equitable and universal healthcare.

The broad functions of NMC include laying down policies for maintaining high quality and standards in medical education and making the necessary regulations.

It also includes laying down policies for regulating medical institutions, medical research and medical professionals; assessing the requirements in healthcare, including human resources for health and healthcare infrastructure, and developing a roadmap for meeting such requirements.

It also ensures coordination among the autonomous boards.

The NMC also acts as the appellate jurisdiction with respect to decisions of autonomous boards and lays down policies and codes to ensure observance of professional ethics in the medical profession and promotes ethical conduct during care by medical practitioners.