HYDERABAD: Union Minister of State for Ayush Prataprao Jadhav has announced that the National Exit Test (NExT) for Ayush will be effective from the 2021-2022 batch onwards.
The decision was taken based on the recommendation of the committee set up in to review the students’ concerns in this regard, he said.
The committee has recommended that the NExT will be applied to students enrolled in the 2021-22 academic year under the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) and the National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) Acts, 2020.
The committee was presided over by Prof. Sanjeev Sharma, vice-chancellor, National Institute of Ayurveda (NIA), Jaipur, who was responsible for reviewing the suggestions from students and submitting the recommendations to the Ministry.
The test is mandatory for licensing and enrolment in state or national registers after completing the one-year internship, and the structure is a problem-based examination featuring clinical case scenarios, images, and videos to evaluate practical skills.
The interns who have not completed their internship but qualified in the National Exit Test (NExT) will be eligible to register in the state or national registration board only after completion of a one-year internship.
This announcement has been made after various representations made from students of the Ayush stream regarding the implementation of the NExT and a meeting with the Minister of State (IC) for Ayush was held with some representatives of the students of BAMS/BHMS regarding the discussion on the issue of the NExT exam of NCISM and NCH.
The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) Act 2020 and the National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) Act, 2020 came into force with effect from June 11, 2021 and July 5, 2021, respectively.
The National Exit Test (NExT) is required to be conducted by the Commissions under the provisions of the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) Act 2020 and the National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) Act, 2020 within three years from the date of enforcement of these Acts.
The NExT is designed to assess clinical competency, medical ethics understanding, and ability to handle medico-legal cases for graduates in Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, and Sowa-Rigpa.