Something Sick

Medical education needs fixing, not just a better entrance exam

The NEET retest, taken by around 20 lakh students, went smoothly this time. It also had a higher qualifying score. But one successful exam cannot hide the bigger problems in medical education. NEET scams may grab headlines, but the real troubles go much deeper. Coaching centres have become almost essential for success. Many government medical colleges still lack good facilities. Private medical colleges charge huge fees—often ₹45-55 lakh for an MBBS degree, while NRI seats can cost up to ₹1.4 crore. By comparison, studying medicine in countries like Ukraine, Russia or China can cost much less. There are also continuing reports of “ghost faculty”, where colleges claim to have teachers who are not actually teaching.

These problems affect the quality of medical education. Earlier this year, the qualifying cut-off for the NEET-PG exam, which decides admission to postgraduate medical courses, was lowered to zero. This happened because many MBBS graduates scored very poorly. If someone cannot score even around 30-35% in a test based on what they already studied, should they be allowed to train as a specialist? Lowering the cut-off mainly helps students who can afford expensive private college seats, while better-performing students who cannot pay may miss out. If colleges were forced to keep higher standards, they might have to lower their fees instead of lowering the qualifying marks.

There is another problem too. Far more students want to become doctors than the healthcare system can realistically absorb. Medicine remains one of the few careers that promises high income and social respect, especially in cities. At the same time, many villages still do not have enough doctors. Instead of relying only on one national entrance test, governments should also plan admissions based on local healthcare needs. Fixing medical education will take much more than making NEET run smoothly. It will require better colleges, fairer fees, higher standards and smarter planning.

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