More than 25 years in medical education as a teacher, I’ve watched Indian medical examinations evolve, expand, contract, and often become more complicated.
We moved from All India PG to NEET PG. The question count changed from 300 to 240 to 200 to 180. FMGE runs twice a year with 300 questions. INICET runs twice a year with 200 questions. Some exams are annual, others biannual. Some have faced postponements and last-minute uncertainty & cancellations.
The journey doesn’t become simpler after selection.
Today, a postgraduate may earn an MD or a DNB. Earlier , we had a 2year diploma as well , now phased out. Both produce competent specialists, yet they come with different examination structures, different pass rates, and unfortunately, different perceptions. Every state has its own bond policy. Stipends vary. University exit examinations vary.
Add financial considerations fee structures / stipends/ internship rules , changing regulations, and multiple nomenclatures, and the decision itself becomes a maze.
Over time, labels begin creating unnecessary divisions. MD versus DNB, NEET PG versus FMGE, INICET versus NEET PG. The conversation shifts from learning medicine to navigating systems.
I’ve always believed that the answer to the world’s most complex problems is often simplification and uniformity
Complexity rarely solves complexity. It usually creates another layer.
Sometimes, instead of building a bigger maze, we need to rise above it like an eagle and redesign the map. Perhaps the next evolution of Indian medical education is not another examination or another acronym or a software, may be it is simplifying the structure.
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