Objectives of the Exam

1. To bring uniformity for minimum common standards of education and training of medical graduates in modern system of medicine.
2. Serve as Licentiate Examination for medical graduate to register and practice
3. Entrance Examination for admission to courses of Post graduate medical education

Eligibility criteria

1. All FMG medical students approved by the National Medical Commission for the purpose of obtaining license to practice medicine as a registered medical practitioner in India.
2. All under-graduate medical students pursuing the degree of MBBS in all Medical Colleges as approved by the National Medical Commission
3. Any other person with a Medical Degree for purpose such as pursuing an academic course, observer ship or any other purposes as may be specified and approved by the National Medical Commission.

Steps of NExT Exam

The NExT shall comprise of two separate Steps –

NEXT Step 1 – Theoretical Examination

Specific Subjects Covered in each subject

The examination shall consist of Six papers covering subjects of III MBBS/ Final MBBS, for both Part 1 and Part 2

Part 1

1. Medicine and allied disciplines
2. Surgery and allied disciplines
3. Obstetrics and Gynecology
4. Pediatrics
5. Otorhinolaryngology
6. Ophthalmology
7. Applied aspects of all subjects covered under I MBBS and II MBBS
8. Applied aspects of all subjects covered under III MBBS /Final MBBS Part l

(2) NEXT Step 2 –

Practical /Clinical and Viva Voce Examination covering seven clinical subjects/disciplines;

1. Medicine and allied disciplines
2. Surgery and allied disciplines
3. Obstetrics and Gynecology
4. Pediatrics
5. Otorhinolaryngology
6. Ophthalmology
7. Orthopedics and PMR (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation)

The examination shall be Objective Structured, Clinical Case Based, Simulated Cases/Patients aimed at evaluating Practical /Clinical skills, clinical decision-making and communication skills expected of an Indian Medical Graduate

(iv) The examination shall be held in person /live and shall be conducted by the respective state Health Universities / Institutions following the standards and guidelines provided by the Commission.

Frequency of Exam& Attempts That can be given

1. Regular NEXT Step 1 Examinations held once a year prior to the University Practical Examination for the III MBBS (Part2)/Final MBBS preceding Compulsory Rotating Internship
2. A NEXT Step 1 Supplementary Examination shall be held once a year and is restricted to only those candidates who have failed in one or more of the six papers and are required to repeat those particular papers /subjects
3. Those who do not pass both the NEXT Step 1 Regular and the Supplementary Examination of a particular year shall be able to appear for the NEXT Step 1 Regular Examination only in the following year
4. There is no restriction to the number of attempts to appear in NEXT Step 1 provided the candidate has passed both NEXT Step 1 and NEXT Step 2 Examination within 1O years of joining the MBBS Course
5. There shall be a Regular NExT Step 2 Examination once a year
6. A NExT Step 2 Supplementary Examination shall be held once a year and is restricted to only those candidates who have failed in one or more ( upto 3 Subjects) of the seven subjects and are required to repeat particular subjects.
7. Those who do not pass both the NExT Step 2 Regular and the Supplementary Examination of a particular year shall be able to appear for the NExT Step 2 Regular Examination only in the following year.
8. There is no restriction to number of attempts to appearing the NExT Step 1 Regular Examination to improve scores, provided these examinations for improvement of scores are taken at least after one year of completion of NExT Step 2
9. There is no restriction to the number of attempts to appear in NExT Step 2 provided the candidate has passed both NExT Step 1 and NExT Step 2 Examination within 10 years of joining the MBBS Course

NExT SCORES

(1) Nature of Scoring

1. The marks in NExT Step 1 shall be calculated as whole number which shall serve as the Raw Scores with appropriate decimals and subsequently corresponding Percentages [marks out of a maximum of 100]
2. NExT 2 Examinations results shall be declared as only Pass / Fail based on the acquisition of appropriate competence that is being evaluated

(2) Minimum scores for passing

1. For the NExT Step 1, in each of the six papers a minimum of 50% [ 50 out of 100] or half of the maximum possible Raw Scores should be scored to pass the examination
2. The criteria for passing NEXT Step 2 shall be satisfactory demonstration having acquired the competencies that are evaluated that shall be declared as a Pass /Fail result.

(3) Calculation of NEXT Step 1 Scores for determining merit for the purpose of admission to Postgraduate courses in broad specialties

1. The Total Marks for the purpose of determining merit especially for admission to broad specialty Postgraduate Course shall be calculated from the sum of raw scores obtained in each paper /subject.
2. In the case of failure in one or more subjects, the Total Marks /Percentage of NEXT Step I for a candidate shall be calculated from the sum of total of raw scores in each subject /paper obtained in both Regular and Supplementary Examination in which the candidate has secured pass -marks
3. The Total Marks Percentage of those candidates who have appeared in NExT Step Examination to improve their scores shall be calculated from the average /mean of last three consecutive scores
4. For the purpose of determining merit especially for admission to broad – specialty Postgraduate Course the NExT Step scores shall remain valid for three years.

(4) Utility of NEXT Scores

1. Eligibility for Provisional Registration
2. A Medical student from a college recognized by the Commission for imparting undergraduate medical education shall be eligible for Compulsory Rotating Internship.
3. Eligibility for grant of License to practice modern system of medicine in India and eligibility to the registered in the National Medical Register/ State Medical Register /State Medical Registers for such practice.
4. Eligibility for admission to Postgraduate Medical Courses in Board specialty subjects in a college/institution approved by the Commission
5. Utilization of NEXT Scores for purposes other than above such as employment, scholarship, fellowship etc.

Division & Type of Questions

Distribution of Items and knowledge level of Questions

(i). MCQ items in all subjects shall be distributed approximately as follows;

• Problems –solving and analytical skills types: 65% clinical vignettes
• Comprehension type: 25%
• Recall type: 10%

However, variations in the distribution may be expected.

(ii). The level of Knowledge related to the acquisition of competencies shall be approximately

• Must Know: 60%
• Nice to Know: 30%
• May Know: 10%

Papers and Distribution of Subjects

• The NEXT Step 1 examination will have six subject papers with respective weightage in items and time allocation
• Applied aspects of all other subjects of MBBS including Forensic Medicine and Toxicology(FMT) and Community Medicine will be mainstreamed into the relevant clinical subjects.
•  In each paper 10% items will pertain to applied aspects of Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Pathology, Pharmacology, Forensic Medicine relevant to the subjects evaluated
• In each paper 10% items will pertain to applied aspects of Public health/Community Medicine relevant to the subjects evaluated.

The following Table 1 provides the subjects in each paper papers will respective weightage in items and time allocated

3. Proposed time scheduled of papers (table 2)

The above schedule is only indicative subject to feasibility and logistic

4. Evaluation methods for NExT Step 2

• Each examination would comprise of
• Actual cases
• Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)
• Simulations if possible

Time Schedule

The proposed/likely time schedules are provided in the table below subject to changes as may be necessary from time to time and duly notified appropriately

If Successful Supplementary Examination candidates are NOT allowed to continue with successful Regular Examination candidates