As the date for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) 2025 draws closer, MBBS graduates from this particular college found themselves facing the possibility of not being eligible for the exam, despite graduating last year.
The college in question is the Madhya Pradesh Medical Science University (MPMSU) in Jabalpur. MBBS students who completed their fourth year in 2024 from MSU allege that they will not be able to appear for NEET-PG 2025, as they are still completing their compulsory one-year internship, which will only end in August.
According to the guidelines of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), which conducts NEET-PG, candidates must have completed their compulsory one-year internships by July 31, 2025, to be eligible for NEET-PG 2025.
For students of MP MSU, the delay in the completion of their internship was caused by the late announcement of their MBBS final exam results by the university.
“Our final exams, along with supplementary papers, were finished by June. However, the results were not declared till August 16. Accordingly, we started our internships later than we were supposed to,” Dr Lucky* (name changed on request), a graduate from the college told EdexLive.
Usually, students from the university would finish their exams, receive their final results and begin their internships by March 31, which enables them to meet the July 31 eligibility cutoff date. However, things were different last year. “Due to some reason, the college delayed releasing our results, which has never happened before,” attests Dr Anshuman*, another MBBS graduate from the university.
Dr Lucky further claimed that after the COVID-19 pandemic, the university started issuing results several months after exams were completed. “Once, the results for the first-year exams were issued five months after the exams,” he recalled.
“Last year, even final year results were affected by these delays,” he sighed.
As a result, MBBS graduates who appeared for their final exams received their results several months after the exams concluded, leading to delayed internship allotments. Due to this alleged administrative lapse, these students are ineligible to appear for NEET-PG 2025.
“We can only apply for NEET-PG 2026. A whole year has been lost due to no fault of our own,” Dr Lucky* fumed.
Both graduates add that finding work as a junior resident doctor after the completion of their internship is out of the question. “In Madhya Pradesh, government hospitals and health centres have a bond period of two years. If we start working after our internship, we won’t be able to appear for NEET-PG until 2028,” Dr Anshuman* explained.
The graduates’ only hope is that the NBEMS pushes the deadline back by a month, to August 31.
Doctors’ networks like the United Doctors’ Front (UDF) have also expressed their support for the graduates.
In a letter addressed to JP Nadda, the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, the UDF writes, “This modest extension would ensure that all affected candidates receive a fair and equitable opportunity to compete in NEET PG 2025, in line with the principles of justice and academic parity.”
However, despite this support, the graduates are not particularly hopeful that the deadline will be extended for them. “The university administration is not particularly supportive, and frankly speaking, they are also powerless against the NBE to have the deadline extended,” Dr Lucky said.
Dr Anshuman added that he “has accepted” that they have to appear for NEET-PG in 2026 only. “The registration forms for NEET-PG have been exhausted, and the late application window is also closed. The exam will go on as planned, and there’s nothing we can do about it,” he said, defeated.
