Common MBBS entrance test from next year

The Union Health Ministry is set to introduce a single entrance test for undergraduate medical courses in the country from the next academic session.

Proposed by the Medical Council of India (MCI) last month, the ministry is learnt to have recently given an in-principle approval to start a "national eligibility-cum-entrance test for admission to MBBS course".

The move will replace over 17 pre-medical tests (PMTs) conducted all over the country for over 35,000 undergraduate seats.

According to senior officials in the ministry, the common test will bring in uniformity and common standards in the country.

"There is a need to start such a test to usher in uniformity and common standards. There have been complaints that medical colleges were resorting to all sorts of wrongdoings to fill up the seats," said an official.

As of now, every state has its own rules for the medical entrance tests. In Gujarat, for instance, students are enrolled for the MBBS course on the basis of marks obtained in the senior secondary class.

It is expected that the test will be conducted by the CBSE, which conducts an all-India PMT for a chunk of MBBS seats in government colleges.

The rank obtained in the test will form the basis for admission to all medical colleges. There are about 300 medical colleges in the country, of which about 120 conduct their own exams. Admission to others is based on the PMTs conducted by state boards, CBSE and the armed forces.

Dr Devi Shetty, member, board of governors in the MCI, said the single entrance test will help reduce the stress levels of medical aspirants. "It is not possible for students to take all the PMTs. At times, there is a clash between two colleges having exam on the same day. The single entrance test will help tide over all these problems," he said.

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