Odisha’s medical colleges to reopen from December 1

State Government decides on uniform examination calendar for all medical colleges affiliated to different varsities.
For representational purposes
For representational purposes

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha government on Friday decided to reopen medical colleges from December 1 and implement a non-negotiable examination calendar to ensure uniformity in conducting examinations. Along with all schools, colleges and universities, the medical colleges were closed following the Covid-19 outbreak in mid-March leading to delay in commencement of academic session for fresh MBBS students by almost four months and disruption of clinical training of final year students. 

After a review meeting, Additional Chief Secretary of Health department PK Mohapatra directed college authorities to begin classes under strict adherence to Covid-19 guidelines and SOPs with respect to social distancing and prevention of spread of coronavirus.

The decision to reopen the medical colleges was taken following the recommendation of National Medical Commission (NMC), which expressed concern over disruption in clinical training of current batch of interns. They will not be eligible for the PG exams unless the training is completed. 

The Commission besides suggesting to start the MBBS classes from December 1, had advised that the delayed academic session for 2020-21 should commence from February 1 next year. As recommended, the PG-NEET examination is expected to be scheduled around March-April 2021 so that the academic session can begin from July 1. 

The State government also decided to implement a non-negotiable examination calendar to ensure uniformity in conducting MBBS examinations across the State. The Health and Family Welfare department will prepare the calendar following the guidelines issued by the NMC, which will be notified by the Higher Education department.

Although all the students are admitted to MBBS course through a common entrance test and the session commences at the same time, there is a wide variation in conducting the examinations and publishing results. At times it gets delayed for almost a year and students suffer for no fault of theirs. 

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