The Armed Forces Medical College ((AFMC) will no longer conduct its own entrance examination for medical courses and the students wishing to join the institute will now have to appear for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) which will come into effect this year.
The NEET will be held for the first time on May 5 across the country. NEET is a qualifying entrance exam for students wishing to pursue undergraduate medical or dental course or a post-graduate course in government and private medical colleges in the country. NEET – UG, for MBBS and BDS courses, will be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education. NEET – UG will replace the All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) and all individual MBBS exams conducted by states or colleges themselves.
NEET was proposed to be held from 2012 but was deferred by a year by the CBSE and the Medical Council of India (MCI) owing to technical issues.
AFMC Commandant Air Marshal B Keshav Rao said as per the new guidelines, the college will no longer conduct its own examination. The National Board of Exam will make the merit list and students will have to mention their options for admission to AFMC. Last year, as many as 70,484 candidates appeared for the UG entrance examination. A total of 1,194 were shortlisted for the interview for 150 seats at AFMC.
The Commandant said the college has also started psychometric assessment of medical cadets. Besides, the college has also approved the setting up of an examination centre with a seating capacity of 1,000 students. A training course on sports medicines will also be introduced this academic year, he said.
