NMC top officials propose 10-year cap to finish MBBS course

National Medical Commission (NMC) top officials have proposed that the students must complete the MBBS course within 10 years of taking admission.

With an objective to remove the non-serious candidates from the medical field, the top officials of the National Medical Commission (NMC) have proposed for the first time that it should be mandatory for MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) students to complete their course within 10 years of taking admission.

A draft on the National Exit Test (NEXT) is being sent to the Union health ministry for approval and the proposal for the 10-year cap for completing MBBS is said to be the part of this draft, as confirmed by Aruna V Vanikar, president of the undergraduate medical education board at the NMC.

“Though it is not a regular feature that medicos take very long to complete their degrees, there are many instances across India like this, which include foreign medical graduates as well,” said Vanikar, as reported by The New Indian Express.

“Some universities even allow students to drop years and resume later after a gap. The duration of MBBS course without internship is 4.5 years, so under no circumstance should a candidate take more than 10 years to complete the degree,” Vanikar added.

NEXT is set to be held from 2023, it will be the final year national level MBBS exam and this exam will be based on the undergraduate syllabus of the medical programs and also be used for scoring students for PG medical courses. The online examination will consist of only multiple-choice question (MCQ) type questions.

MBBS is a professional undergraduate degree in medical science and after completing this course, students become qualified doctors. The duration of the course is five years and six months including one-year rotational internships at health centres, health camps and hospitals organised by NGOs. Till now, once a candidate gets admission to MBBS through NEET, there is no year limit to complete the course.

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