NEET-PG 2023: ‘Decision could raise concerns on quality of medical education’

EVEN as health academicians in the city are puzzled with the timing of the World Federation of Medical Education WFME recognition that 706 medical schools in the country got last week and the recent ldquoZero cut offrsquo notification passed by the apex medical regulatory body whether it will have any impact on the standardization of postgraduate medical education in India and its effect if at all on the overall health care system is to be seenDr Wiqar Shaikh professor of Medicine Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals said that he is absolutely shocked to know about the notification from the Director General of Health Services DGHS which conveyed that the qualifying percentile for NEETPG 2023 for admission to Postgraduate Medical and Dental Courses in the country has been reduced to ldquoZerordquo The notification was released on September 20 Dr Shaikh added that the notification mentioned that the reduction in the qualifying percentile has been made applicable in all categories of candidatesBizarre decisionDr Shaikh said that this decision is bizarre and will raise concerns regarding the quality of medical education in the country He also said that he is worried that reducing the percentile to zero could promote corruption and possibly stimulate an increase in fees in private medical collegesDr Shaikh added that the actual percentile required for PG Medical and Dental admissions until now was 50 from the general unreserved category and 40 for students from reserved categories He said that this decision has been implemented to fill up all the PG clinical and nonclinical seats so that unlike previous years no seats are left vacantDr Shaikh said ldquoThe WFME has approved 706 medical colleges of India of which 6 medical colleges Cooper Nair KEM Sion JJ and Somaiya hospital from Mumbai have been recognized last week and Indian graduates can now pursue their PG education in countries such as the USA Canada Australia and New Zealand The government of India has spent R 320 crore towards the processing fees to obtain this approval The recognition is being looked forward to as students of these medical colleges can pursue their postgraduation from any PG colleges from these countries but will it really happen Only time will tellrdquoHe said the decision by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to reduce the NEETPG percentile to ldquoZerordquo if and when noted by the WFME may lead to cancellation of approval to our medical collegeslsquoA big surprisersquoDr Ketan Vagholkar professor of Surgery at DY Patil Medical College said ldquoReducing the qualifying percentile to zero for the NEETPG 2023 has come as a big surprise Bringing the qualifying mark to zero defeats the whole purpose of a PG medical entrance test There should be no compromise in quality and standards at any cost Just because there are no takers for the post graduate seats does not mean that we have to provide substandard care to society by permitting doctors who do not qualify the set intellectual standards required for that job By doing so eventually there will be poor quality doctors serving society which will have a negative impact on the medical care provided The population will suffer for no fault of theirsrdquoldquoTherefore the best of medical graduates needs to be selected and allowed to enter postgraduate courses By reducing the qualifying mark to zero the tail end scorers including those who have scored negative marks and are devoid of scholastic and academic skills will get an opportunity to enter the system causing dilution of standards It is important to ensure that the best intellectual class of medical graduates enter postgraduationrdquo said Dr VagholkarlsquoStringent cut off a mustrsquoDr Vagholkar added ldquoThe primary health care centres in the country need basic medical graduates as India still has a large rural sector Postgraduation is specialisation in different branches of clinical sciences It is a universal concept in medicine that the best of the medical graduates are selected for postgraduation specialised medical courses Therefore stringent cut off in PGNEET is absolutely essential to select the best of the medical graduates This will ensure quality health care for our citizensrdquoDr Vagholkar said ldquoEvery country for instance USA UK Canda Australia and New Zealand has their own state licensing examination Noncitizens who clear it will then be allowed to practice medicine in those countries The recent WFME recognition of 706 medical schools in India is undoubtedly good for the medical graduates as it will render them eligible to appear for individual licensing examinations in these countriesThe whole medical education system has to be only patient centric or reform needs to have a positive impact on the health care system The zeropercentile circular has created confusion in the minds of medical professionals and medical students as it impacts the quality of health carerdquoNEETPG cutoff pros and consThe National Medical Commission NMC reduced the criteria for admission to postgraduate PG medical and dental courses to zero percentile in NEETPG This was the demand for several years by IMA and other medical bodies due to discriminatory slabs of cutoffs in the past decades namely the general category students would qualify above 50 per cent but it was 45 for persons with disabilities and 40 for reserved category With zero percentile cutoff ie those scoring up to minus 40 in NEETPG examination will qualify for admission This came into effect immediatelyldquoThe advantages of this change seen by many education experts are that it eliminates discriminatory cutoff slabs for general versus disabled versus reserved categories It will ensure that qualified doctors with medical and dental degrees will be able to get admission to PG courses in India thereby reducing dependence on foreign universities Tons of nonclinical and paramedical course seats that were going abegging will now get filled and it will reduce the hangover of lsquoseat sellingrsquo of yesteryears Yet merit admissions will be retained by applying NEETPG scores in the systemrdquo said Dr Subhash Hira Professor of Global Health at University of WashingtonSeattle who has over 40 years of experience working in and designing medical universities in USA Africa India and AsialdquoAn overarching news that hit the media recently is that the National Medical Commission NMC has become a member of the World Medical Association based in Geneva This membership of WFME that has 100odd medical associations raises the profile of NMC and its 706 affiliated medical colleges of India that are likely to benefit recognition on the global platform The accreditation of global medical colleges by WHOGeneva continues to be the formal quality education standardrdquo said Dr HiralsquoWelcome moversquoDr Santosh Bansode emergency medicine specialist said ldquoItrsquos a welcome move as many seats which remain vacant each year because of no takers can be filled Students who qualify generally do not opt for subjects like physiology anatomy biochemistry so such seats remain vacant The problem is that after doing MD in Physiology or Anatomy or Biochemistry we can be professors teachers and since these are nonclinical subjects doctors who prefer clinical practice donrsquot opt for themrdquoldquoDoctors who did not qualify earlier might be interested in these nonclinical seats as sometimes nonclinical MD is better than plain MBBS I feel amongst doctors there will be only few who will want to take nonclinical subjects for doing MD So even if NEET PG cut off is made zero still therersquos a high chance that seats for anatomy physiology and biochemistry will remain vacant as most doctors wish to do clinical practice or something related to clinical practice and very few doctors are interested in such purely nonclinical subjects By making the cut off to zero the government is doing its best Now it will be fully dependent on what students want and what they wish to do in their futurerdquo Dr Bansode concludedlsquoImprove teaching learning to ensure standards are metrsquoAMID the furore National Medical Commission NMC recent notification of zero cutoff for the qualifying National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Post Graduate NEET PG for 2023 midday speaks to Dr Vedprakash Mishra a recipient of the Dr BC Roy Award prochancellor Datta Meghe Institute of Higher Education amp Research Deemed to be University Nagpur and former chairman Academic Council Medical Council of India now NMC New DelhiWhat is your view on the NMCrsquos zero percentile notification Can you explain the 2009 case that led to the Supreme Courtrsquos SC direction and the logic behind itThe 2009 judgment by SC recognised that all pathways towards postgraduate medical education are precious and thus it must be ensured that all seats are filled It may be for this reason that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in consultation with the NMC changed the cutoff In the past when seats remained vacant for want of eligibility the authorities would reduce the cutoff The present notification follows the prescribed policy incorporated in governing regulations thereby allowing an instant changeDr Vedprakash Mishra prochancellor Datta Meghe Institute of Higher Education amp Research Deemed to be University NagpurHow would the notification affect the quality of postgraduate medical education and students entering specialised branches Can the step expose citizens to substandard healthcareMerit for entrance examinations is definitely of consequence and relevant in terms of the standards to be maintained for postgraduate medical education However the same must be viewed in the context of preventing vacant seats The standard of postgraduate specialists produced would depend on teaching training and learning in addition to the required eligibility standards Thus such situations must be dealt with by strengthening the teaching and learning process especially in the domain of psychomotor skills which turns out to be of paramount importanceWhat is the relevance of WFME World Federation for Medical Education recognising 706 medical schools and its impact on the healthcare systemThe Academic Council of the then Medical Council of India now NMC undertook the work of readying the Competency Based Model of Undergraduate Medical Education in 2015 A comprehensive document was adopted by the regulatory body and the government and implemented across the country from the academic year 201920 This was to ensure that the curricular design teaching and learning modes align with the standards and guidelines prescribed by the WFME It is a result of this initiative that the WFME recognised the NMC for 10 years and 706 medical schools under its ambit were recognised They have also been placed in the WHO directory of medical schools Any new medical college after fulfilling the required procedures will also get the WFME accreditation The position would be open for renewal This highlights that the standards of medical education in India are at par with the world Since the WFME guidelines are centred around quality teaching adhering to them would mean better input throughput and output It can result in the generation of competent compassionate trained health workers who would prove to be good clinicians communicators leaders and lifelong learners Such a workforce is expected to deliver effective and meaningful healthcare