The unfolding crisis of India’s medical entrance exam

The cost of medical education is likely to double in the coming years, according to a February 2024 report by analysts at Mumbai-based financial services firm, Anand Rathi. Little wonder that for middle-class students who cannot afford private tuition, programmes in nearby countries offer a cheaper option.

According to foreign ministry data, in 2022, more than 7,50,000 Indians went abroad to study to study in places like Russia, China, the Philippines, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan – almost double the number in 2018. But many of these students fail to clear the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination in India. It is a screening test for Indian citizens who have completed their medical education abroad and wish to practise in India. On July 6, a total of 35,819 students took the test. Of these, only 7,233 students passed, while 27,297 failed.

The horror story doesn’t end here for students. The NEET post-graduation exam, which was scheduled for June 23, was cancelled by the central government, without any official explanation, just hours before it was to take place. It is now widely reported that there were intel inputs about impersonation. It is now scheduled to take place in August in two batches thereby pushing the counselling dates forward and cause a delay in the start of new batches.

The problem is not just about the medical examinations, the system itself is designed to favour incompetency and corruption for profit. At every step, from when a student decides to become a doctor to when he or she starts practising, is fraught with challenges.

Government college seats are limited. The student-to-faculty ratio is poor. In private medical colleges, which have been mushrooming across the country, exorbitant fees, poorly trained faculty, no R&D and low patient turnouts are key concerns. Not to mention how suicides by medical students are on the rise as are medical negligence cases in reputed hospitals.

An RTI response in 2023, from the NMC said that 119 medicos died by suicide in the last five years and 1,166 students dropped out of medical colleges due to the stress. Another scandalous state of affairs is the introduction of non-specialised staff into areas that require a high degree of specialisation, for the sake of meeting an ideological agenda.

The ongoing tussle between Centre and practitioners of modern medicine is escalating as the former pushes AYUSH – a traditional system of medicine that stands for Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Naturopathy, Siddha and Homeopathy.

Earlier this year, the health ministry launched the AYUSH-ICMR Advanced Centre for Integrated Health Research in AIIMS, Delhi. In the book Sick Business written by Dr Sumanth C Raman, and published earlier this year, the physician calls the Indian healthcare system a “horror”. And there may only be a few who would disagree with him. Ayush doctors being cheaper to hire are on night duty in ICUs in top city hospitals especially in Pune and Mumbai.

Is the Indian medical system broken?