The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Postgraduate), abbreviated as NEET (PG) is an entrance examination in India conducted by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) for determining eligibility of candidates for admission to postgraduate medical programmes in government or private medical colleges, such as Doctor of Medicine (MD), Master of Surgery (MS), PG diploma, Diplomate of National Board (DNB), Doctorate of National Board (DrNB), and NBEMS diploma. This exam replaced All India Post Graduate Medical Entrance Examination (AIPGMEE).[1] The counselling and seat allotment is conducted by Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).[2]
| Acronym | NEET (PG) |
|---|---|
| Type | Computer based test |
| Administrator | National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences |
| Skills tested | Subjects as per the Graduate Medical Education Regulations |
| Purpose | Admission to postgraduate medical programmes |
| Year started | 2013 |
| Duration | 210 minutes |
| Score range | 0 to 800 |
| Score validity | 1 year |
| Offered | Once a year |
| Regions | India |
| Languages | English |
| Annual number of test takers |  2,85,000 (2024) |
| Prerequisites | MBBS degree as per Indian Medical Council Act |
| Fee | ₹4000 ₹2500 (SC/ST/PWD) |
| Used by | AFMS and ESI Institutions, Medical Educational Institutions of Central and State Govts |
| Website | nbe |
| As per 2024 information bulletin | |
Eligibility criteria
editCandidates studying in India, having Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree or provisional MBBS pass certificate as per Indian Medical Council Act, and MBBS registration certificate issued by the Indian or state medical council and have completed one year of internship or will be completing the internship, are eligible to apply for the exam.[3]: 15 [4][5]
The candidates having Indian citizenship, but have graduated from any foreign medical college, should qualify the Medical Council of India Screening Test (also called Foreign Medical Graduate Examination). They also need to be registered with Indian or state medical council and have completed one year of internship or will be completing the internship.[3]: 15
For foreign nationals, registration is necessary from the country they have obtained basic medical qualification. Medical Council of India (MCI) registration is not compulsory. Temporary registration might be given on payment of application fees.[3]: 15
Organising body
editThe exam is conducted by National Board of Examinations, an autonomous organisation of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. It also conducts exams other National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Super Specialty courses (SS) and Master of Dental Surgery (MDS).[3][4]
Exam pattern and structure
editThe examination is computer based, consisting of 200 mcqs multiple choice questions (MCQ) with single response. The language is English only. It is held in 162 test centres across India.[3]: 26 For each correct response, four marks are allotted and for each wrong response one mark (25 percent) is deducted. No marks awarded or deducted for an unattempted question. There will be 5 section of 40 question each with time slot of 42 minutes, then that part will be auto submitted once the time slot is over, it can't be reviewed then(This pattern has recently incorporated for NEET-PG 2024). Time allotted is 3.5 hours (210 minutes).[3]: 19–20
Syllabus
editThe syllabus comprises subjects prescribed by the Graduate Medical Education Regulations issued by Medical Council of India. It includes Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pathology, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Forensic Medicine, Preventive and Social Medicine, General Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Pediatrics, Otorhinolaryngology, Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Anesthesiology, Radiology, Psychiatry, Orthopaedics[3]: 21
Application fees
editThe application fees for General and Other Backward Classes (OBC) candidates is ₹3,500 (US$42) and for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Person with Disabilities (PwD) candidates is ₹2,500 (US$30). The application process is completely online.[3]: 18 [6]
Cutoff and Results
editThe cutoff marks in the exam is divided into four categories based on the groups of people and castes in India. Cutoffs were reduced in 2020. For General candidates it is 30th percentile, for general but PwD candidates it is a25th percentile, for both SC/ST/OBC and PwD under SC/ST/OBC, it is 20th percentile.[7]
The results of the exam is valid for current admission session, i.e. one year. It can not be carried forward for the next session.[3]
Seat allotment
editThe whole seat pool for Diploma, MD and MS is divided into half. One for medical institutes under central government (which is the all India 50 percent quota) and the rest half for all the respective state medical councils. Seat allotment is done through a centralised counselling procedure. For all India quota it is conducted by DGHS. Merit list of qualified students is prepared based on score and percentile.[3]: 40 Seats are reserved for the SC, ST, PwD and non-creamy layer OBC candidates, which is 15, 7.5, 5 and 27 percent respectively. Wherever Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota is implemented, 10 percent seats will be reserved for them. Eligibility and other criteria are different in case of Armed Forces Medical Services institutions. There is no reservation in Armed Forces Medical Service Institutions.[3]: 37, 44
Institutes
edit114 medical colleges and institutes, both government and private, take admission through this exam.[3]: 56–61
Institutes not covered by the exam
edit5 INIs (Institute of National Importance) are exempted from centralised admission via this exam. They are:[3]
- All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMSs)
- Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER)
- Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER)
- National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS)
- Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST)
Admission to these institutes is via another entrance test i.e. INI-CET.
Number of applicants
editIn 2020, 167,102 candidates registered for the exam, 18,389 more than the previous year.[8] 166,702 candidates were Indian citizens, 16 were Non-Resident of India, 130 Person of Indian Origin and 254 foreigners. 160,888 candidates appeared for the exam and, out of which 89,549 qualified. 12 were declared ineligible.[9]
DNB courses
editThe exam is also used for admission into various Diplomate of National Board (DNB) courses. No other entrance exam is held for it. The eligibility criteria are same as that of PG courses. Reservation in DNB courses is determined by the institution.[3]: 46
Controversies
editNEET (PG) 2021
editThe exam is generally held in December–January but in 2021 it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was held in September 2021. However, counselling for students who appeared for the exam has not been conducted yet because of cases pending in the Supreme Court over reservations to the economically weaker section. The delay in counselling has resulted in shortage of doctors at hospitals, increasing workload for existing resident doctors. Protests over the delay in counselling began on November 27 with resident doctors boycotting work in out patient departments which gradually escalated to “withdrawal from all service”. The boycott was suspended on December 9 after the doctors were given assurances that the counselling schedule will be released in a week, but they resumed the boycott from December 17 as the government failed to act on those assurances. On 27 December 2021, resident doctors that were marching towards the Supreme Court were stopped and “brutally thrashed, dragged, and detained” by the Delhi Police according to FORDA, an association of resident doctors.[10][11]
NEET (PG) 2024
The exam was first announced to be conducted on March 3rd. It was then officially postponed to July 7th due to reasons unknown. Later, NBE made an announcement that the exam is Preponed to June 23rd. Admit cards were released and all arrangements were made for the exam. On June 22nd night at around 10pm, the NBE made an official announcement stating the exam is postponed in view of integrity of the examination. After several weeks, the board finally announced the new date, and conducted the exam in two shifts on August 11th. The students expressed disparity in the level of toughness due to the two shifts. Normalization was undertaken & results were announced. Supreme court cases emerged stating lack of transparency regarding the result, normalization, answer key, etc. This caused a lot of delay in the counselling process.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "NEET PG 2023 result declared on natboard.edu.in, check cutoff here". The Times of India. 2023-03-15. ISSN 0971-8257.
- ^ "NMC asked to upload state NEET PG counselling schedules on its website; Check details here". www.telegraphindia.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Information Bulletin for National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (Post Graduate)" (PDF). NBE NEET-PG 2020. 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
- ^ a b "NEET PG 2020 Exam: Counselling, Seat Allotment Result (Out), Cutoff, Dates". www.shiksha.com. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
- ^ "NEET PG 2020 Exam: Last Date of Reporting (Extended), Result, Counselling, Seat Allotment". medicine.careers360.com. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
- ^ "Advt. NEET PG (English)". Retrieved 14 August 2020.
- ^ "Public Notice regarding Reduction of Cut-off Marks for NEET PG, 2020" (PDF). mciindia.org. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
- ^ "NEET PG 2019 Result Statistics released by NBE; 79,633 candidates qualified the PG exam | Careers360". news.careers360.com. 2 February 2019. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
- ^ "NEET PG result 2020: Statistics released by NBE suggest 89,549 qualified the exam". www.shiksha.com. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
- ^ Babu, Nikhil (2021-12-30). "The continuing medico malady". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2021-12-30.
- ^ "'No country for doctors:' Twitter fumes over police brutality on protesting doctors in Delhi". 2021-12-28. Archived from the original on 2021-12-30.
