Health ministry wants your suggestions on post-graduate medical entrance test

As part of the notification, the ministry has provided three options to be voted upon, and is also inviting other suggestions till January 5.

In a bid to make the National Eligibility cum Entrance Examination - Super Speciality (NEET-SS) for post-graduate courses more student friendly, the union health ministry has called for suggestions and views from all concerned parties in the next two weeks.

NEET-SS is a test taken by thousands of students across the country in order to be eligible for courses such as doctorate in medicine (DM). (Ht file photo)

NEET-SS is a test taken by thousands of students across the country in order to be eligible for courses such as doctorate in medicine (DM) in branches including neurology, cardiology, nephrology, and Master of Surgery (MCh). In 2017, NEET-SS was conducted broad-speciality wise and a common merit list was prepared for admission to the respective super-speciality course. However, for 2018, the government wants suggestions on the way the test could be conducted.

“It has been decided to consider the views and comments of all those concerned to enable the ministry to take an informed decision, as super speciality courses are the highest level of professional excellence in medical field,” said the notification which was released by the Union health and family welfare ministry over the past weekend.

The second option looks at a super speciality wise NEET-SS test where candidates will get to appear in a limited number of SS courses. “By making candidates choose only the interested courses, we can eliminate the practise of blocking seats at the time of counselling,” said the circular.

The third option is to conduct an exam with a higher difficulty level, modelled along the lines of an MBBS-level paper. “This could mean a common paper for all candidates who would be allotted super speciality courses as per their eligibility and score in the exam,” states the circular.

The ministry is open to other suggestions as well. Those interested can share their suggestions from until January 5, 2018 to mepsection-mohfw@gov.in.