The National Commission for Indian Systems of Medicine (NCISM) recently released guidelines for conducting National Existence Test (NExT) for the Indian systems of medicine Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Sowa Rigpa.
NExT is conducted to grant a license to practice as a physician after completing a one-year internship and to register in a state or national registry.
“The Commission will send the attached guidelines for NExT. The guidelines include eligibility, number of attempts to appear, syllabus, pass percentage, structure of exam pattern, language of question paper etc,” the official notification said.
The AYUSH Ministry shared a notice addressed to principals, secretaries and directors of all ASUS colleges.
As per Rule 6 of the National Board of Indian System of Medicine (National Examination in Indian System of Medicine) Rules, 2023;
1. The National Graduation Examinations in each branch of the Indian systems of medicine, i.e. Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Sowa Rigpa etc., shall be conducted by the Commission through designated authorities.
2. A National Graduation Examination shall be conducted for granting license to practice as a physician in the respective branch of the Indian system of medicine after completion of one year internship and for registration in the State or National Register as a registered physician in the Indian system of medicine.
3. The examination will be a question-based examination to test the clinical competence, understanding of medical ethics and ability to deal with medico-legal cases as a physician in the disciplines of Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Sowa Rigpa.
4. National qualification examinations are usually held in February and August every year. However, in 2024, the NExT exam will tentatively be held in October 2024.
Eligibility to participate in NExT
a) Interns who have completed a minimum of 270 days of internship by the deadline for application for the national qualification examination; or
b) Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Sowa Rigpa graduates who have completed one year of mandatory internship.
c) Foreign nationals whose medical qualifications are recognised under Schedule III of the IMCC Act, 1970 or Section 36 of the NCISM Act, 2020.
Who needs to attend NExT?
NExT is mandatory for all those who have started their internship on or after 20th December 2023 (irrespective of the year of admission/batch), i.e., after the notification date of the National Board of Indian Health Systems (National Examination for Indian Health Systems) Rules, 2023.
Interns who have not completed their internship but have passed the National Exit Test will be eligible to register with the State or National Registration Board only after completing one year of internship.
The graduation degrees of candidates who fail to pass the National Graduation Examination shall be considered for all other job opportunities and other educational programmes or courses where medical registration is not mandatory.
Obtaining the NExT qualification and being included on the State and National Registers is a mandatory requirement for practising as a registered medical practitioner or for any job that involves clinical work, any job where medical registration is mandatory, or for pursuing postgraduate courses in Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani or Sowa Rigpa.
Qualifying pass rate
If you score 50% or above you will be declared a pass in the National Leaving Examination.
Language of question paper
- Ayurveda – English and Hindi
- Unani -English and Urdu
- Siddha – English and Tamil
- Sowa Rigpa – English and Bhoti
NExT certificates will be issued by NCISM to qualified candidates. Certificates may be generated electronically with appropriate security features.
