MBBS graduates ineligible for NEET PG 2023? Here's what happened

Several medical aspirants across the country today, Saturday, January 7, found themselves ineligible to appear for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) Postgraduate 2023 as per the rules notified by the National Board of Examination in Medical Sciences (NBEMS).

As per the notification, to be eligible to appear for NEET PG 2023, one has to complete their internship by March 31, 2023. However, students pointed out that the start of their internships was delayed due to the COVID pandemic, which has now rendered them ineligible for the exam. A tweet by Dr Suvrankar Datta from the Federation of All India Media Association (FAIMA) stated that, "I request @NMC_IND to immediately note that a majority of interns of multiple states (whose internship was delayed due to COVID) have suddenly become ineligible for NEET PG 2023! Request all interns to reply here ASAP if their colleges are ineligible. We will write officially!" He informed EdexLive that lakhs of students will be affected due to this move.

Internships yet to start

According to a graphic shared by the Indian Medical Association, Junior Doctors Network, Maharashtra, the internship is yet to start in states such as Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Odisha, Jharkhand, Delhi and Puducherry. In a letter addressed to the Chairperson of the National Medical Commission (NMC), the association noted that approximately 75 per cent of interns in Maharashtra and the rest of the country are not eligible for the exam. "The special stray vacancy round of counselling started from January 6 and is still under process, which puts the students in a dilemma whether to focus on the counselling or NEET PG 2023 application process," they stated in the letter.

Aspirants also took to Twitter to share their concerns. "At Least have an idea about the eligibility of the students for whom u are taking this exam. None of the state universities had followed the academic curriculum and now the students are the one who are going to suffer as always," says Dr Pradeep (@dr_padddy) on Twitter.

"Cut off dates for internship is March 31. Many states' students may not be eligible as per this. I feel leniency is required in this as because of the pandemic many state calendars are still not as per this guideline, no fault of students," said Dr APS Chauhan (@aniruddh_raja) on Twitter.