Medical Council to make license exams optional

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Oct. 15: The Nepal Medical Council is planning to make license exams optional.According to officials at the National Medical Council (NMC), the plan aims to ease the future of the graduates at a time when the rate of failure in license exams continues to be alarming. 

Only 42.32 per cent examinees passed the 64th license exams for MBBS and BDS conducted by the Nepal Medical Council (NMC) during September 22-24, 2022.

Passing the license exams of the NMC is mandatory for an undergraduate or postgraduate medical or dental student to practice medicine in the country. 

According to the data provided by the NMC, 51.4 per cent examinees passed the license exams for MBBS and BDS in 2021, 61.7 per cent in 2020, 51.3 per cent in 2019, 55.5 per cent in 2018 and 53.9 per cent in 2017.

Similarly, 61.5 per cent examinees attending the special license exams for postgraduates passed in 2021, 64.9 per cent passed in 2020, 63.5 per cent in 2019, 63 per cent in 2018, and 64.5 per cent in 2017.

“Yes, almost half the examinees always fail the license exams. It is a sad reality but it ensures that only doctors with standard medical knowledge are allowed to practice medicine in the country,” said Dr. Krishna Prasad Adhikary, registrar at the NMC.Talking to the media at the NMC on Friday, Dr. Adhikary informed that the NMC prepared questions for the license exams with the help of around 50 specialist doctors and professors.

“The questions are prepared and set by the same professors who teach the medical students in the medical colleges across the country. Excess rate of failures is not the incompetency of the NMC,” said Dr. Adhikary.

Among the 180 objective questions, 90 correct answers are enough to pass the NMC’s license exam.Dr. Adhikary stressed that the colleges should focus on preparing the students as a better doctor rather than just helping them pass the courses. 

Similarly, the NMC also plans to conduct practical exams for the license examinees alongside the objective one. “We are preparing a guideline 

for medical skills that should be taught by the colleges. We also plan to begin practical exam for license soon as well,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Adhikary, when asked about making the license exam optional, replied, “A MBBS graduate needs a medical license even to seat in Public Service Commission’s exam. One’s bachelor degree is not enough.”

By making the license exam optional, the NMC plans to make the medical degrees useful in pursuing career in administrative section, he said.

“There are people who have been taking the license exams for more than 20 times because without passing it, there is no importance of the degree alone. Similarly, not all medical graduates want to treat patients. This is why we plan to make it optional,” Dr. Adhikary added.

However, the graduates can take the license exams if they wanted to. 

Nevertheless, Dr. Adhikary stressed that the low passing rate was also a result of many Nepali doctors returning from foreign country by learning a different course in different language.