Will NExT Replace NEET PG?
The National Medical Commission has recently shared a draft note on the National Exit Test (NExT) after which there are a lot of questions among Medicos related to the NExT Exam.
- How the NExT exam is different from the current Medical PG exam i.e. NEET PG?
- What will be the NExT exam pattern?
- How should we prepare for NExT exam?
- Is NExT exam tougher than the NEET PG exam?
And many more….
These questions are quite normal to come to mind when we hear about something new. Let’s understand first about the exam and then we will discuss the strategy to crack the exam.
What is NExT?
The National Medical Commission has introduced NExT exam for Medicos who are planning to do their post-graduation. Now the next question comes in our mind is what is the need to do so. So the objective of doing this is to bring uniformity and upgrade the standard of education and training of a medical graduate. This will also bring the importance of practical learning and modern systems in India.
Who all can give NExT exam?
- All the medical students pursuing MBBS can appear for NExT exam in their final year.
- Foreign Medical Graduates.
- Any other person with a medical degree.
What will be the exam pattern of NExT?
The NExT exam will be conducted into two phases:
1. NExT Step 1
- In step 1, there will be a theoretical MCQ based online exam of 6 papers which covers 3rd Year and Final Year subjects (both Part 1 and Part 2) of MBBS.
- The subjects included are:
- Medicine and allied disciplines
- Surgery and allied disciplines
- Obstetrics and Gynaecology
- Paediatrics
- Otorhinolaryngology
- Ophthalmology
- NExT step 1 and their supplementary exam will be held once a year of all the six papers.
- The candidate can attempt the NExT step 1 a number of times provided the candidate has passed both step 1 and step 2 exam within 10 years of joining the MBBS program.
- The papers will also have some questions from preventive and public health.
Paper Pattern:
There will be six papers in NExT Step 1 which will be held in 3 days (2 papers in one day) and there will be a one-day gap between 2 days of the exam. In total there will be 540 questions (3 papers will have 120 questions each and other 3 papers will have 60 questions each). You will get 3 hours for the paper having 120 questions and 1.5 hours for the paper having 60 questions.
2. NExT Step 2
- In step 2, there will be one practical and viva exam covering 7 clinical subjects. This exam will be attempted by the students after completion of their internship.
- The subjects included are:
- Medicine and allied disciplines
- Surgery and allied disciplines
- Obstetrics and Gynaecology
- Paediatrics
- Otorhinolaryngology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics and PMR (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation)
- NExT step 2 and their supplementary exam will be held once a year for all the 7 papers. Supplementary exam is for students who failed in one or more subjects (up to 3 subjects).
How NExT is different from NEET PG?
NEET PG |
NExT |
NEET PG exam is for students who want to do MD/MS after their MBBS. | NExT exam is a combination of Exit test for MBBS students and PG examination. |
NEET PG exam is only one single day MCQ based exam (300 questions) of 3.5 hours. | In NExT exam students have to give two exams (NExT Step 1 and NExT Step 2) and clear both the exams. NExT Step 1 is MCQ based exam of 6 papers (540 questions) and NExT Step 2 is a practical and viva exam. |
For NEET PG, students need to complete their internship by the date MCI announces every year. | NExT makes you eligible for an internship after you clear NExT Step 1 exam. |
Students need to clear their university exams to get a license to practice Medicine in India. | Students need to clear both Step 1 & Step 2 NExT exams to get a license to practice Medicine in India. |
As per the NExT format, students should now have their basic concepts clear and have more practical knowledge. NExT will be having more clinical based questions so students need to attempt more clinical scenario based MCQs while preparing for NExT exam.
Students need to start their preparation early for NExT exam as unlike NEET PG you will have less time to prepare. Right now students have the time of internship also to prepare for NEET PG whereas for NExT Step 1 students will not have the time of internship. To clear NExT Step 1, students need to get a minimum 50% marks and to clear NExT Step 2, student demonstration needs to be satisfactory.
Find the draft shared by NMC here
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