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Whatever NEXT?
The proposal of a National Exit Test as an exit examination for MBBS graduates to ensure a minimum quality standard is desirable in a country with large gaps in healthcare. However, in its current form it could be reduced to just another examination that can be gamed and one that does not ensure basic skills. Sound designing, increased investment in testing infrastructure, and phased planning and implementation are needed to ensure that NEXT serves as a panacea to the lack of standardised medical graduate output in the country.
The Medical Council of India (MCI), which currently regulates medical education in India, has put forth a proposal to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) to conduct an exit examination, the National Exit Test (NEXT), targeted at all medical undergraduates who pass the MBBS course. The NEXT is primarily aimed at ensuring a minimum quality standard for the 61,000 odd graduating MBBS doctors that the approximately 479 medical colleges in India produce (MCI 2017). The proposed examination that intends to bring uniformity in the quality of the MBBS graduates across the country, however, has inherent design flaws, which risks reducing it to just another examination that does not deliver on what it aims to do.
What the Proposal Says
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