The National Medical Commission (NMC) has recently released new CBME (Competency Based Medical Education) guidelines regarding the MBBS degree course. The new guidelines issued by the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of NMC for the MBBS course state that the first session of the NEXT exam will start from the MBBS course of the academic year 2024-25. The NEXT examination system will be implemented in two phases. It will start from the 54th week of the MBBS course and the second phase of NEXT (NExT) will be held during the 12th month of compulsory rotating medical internship (CRMI).
As per the new CBME guidelines, MBBS students will be able to appear for University MBBS exams/next exams only if they have 75 per cent attendance in electives and have submitted the log book maintained during the electives.
LGBTQ+ community upset with new CBSE guidelines for MBBS
The LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual) community is angry with the new guidelines of NMC regarding the new curriculum of MBBS course. According to the report of The New Indian Express and The Career 360, in the new guidelines, MBBS students will be taught sodomy and lesbianism as unnatural sexual crimes. These have been made part of the subject of sexual crimes in clinical forensic medicine. Activists associated with the LGBTQIA+ community say that these guidelines violate the rights of persons with disabilities and LGBTQ people. In 2018, the Supreme Court removed homosexual relations from the category of crime.
The university exams will be conducted in the following manner-
Phase-I examination will be held at the end of Phase I training (in the 12th month of that training) in the subjects of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry.
Phase-II examination will be conducted at the end of Phase II training (in the 12th month of that training) in the subjects of Pathology, Microbiology and Pharmacology.
Phase III Part 1 examination will be held at the end of Phase III Part 1 of training (12th month of that training) in the subjects of Community Medicine, Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Ophthalmology and Otorhinolaryngology.
Phase III Part 2 / NEXT Examination as per the norms of this examination- (Final Professional) examination will be held at the end of 17th / 18th month of the training in General Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics and allied subjects as per NEXT norms.