Current Students Exempted from New NEET Mandate for Foreign MBBS Courses

Students who have already taken admission in foreign medical institutions for MBBS courses under the current regulations are exempted from NEET. Check out the complete statement by the Health Ministry.

23 February 2018: In a recent amendment to the Screening Test Regulations 2002, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has made NEET mandatory for the students who wish to pursue MBBS course from foreign medical institutions. However, as per a recent statement released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare students who have already taken admissions under the present regulations by taking the Eligibility Certificate from the Medical Council of India (MCI) are exempted from NEET.

After making the earlier amendment, students have requested the Health Ministry to exempt those who have all ready taken admission. In this context, a statement from the Ministry states; “it is informed that the regulations prescribe that the Indian Citizens / Overseas Citizen of India intending to obtain primary medical qualification from any medical institution outside India, on or after May 2018, shall have to mandatorily qualify the NEET for admission to MBBS course abroad.”

The statement further states; “The decision will be implemented prospectively i.e. from May-2018. Thus, students who have already taken admission under current regulations to pursue primary medical course by taking Eligibility Certificate from MCI are exempted from qualifying NEET”

It was brought to government’s knowledge that foreign medical universities and institutions were giving admissions to Indian students without proper assessment of their academic ability to pursue a medical course. Thus, many students fail the MCI screening test. Considering this, MCI proposed to the Health Ministry to make changes in the Screening Test Regulation 2002. Consequently, the Ministry made NEET mandatory for pursuing MBBS from foreign medical institutes. Every year, approximately 7,000 students go abroad, mostly to Russia and China, for studying medicine.

About NEET

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is the common national level medical entrance exam conducted for admission in MBBS/BDS courses. This year, the NEET 2018 exam is scheduled on 06 May 2018 (Sunday).