Maharashtra Medical Education Dept directs DMER to release timetable 45 days before exams

As the Maharastra government prepared to hold medical examinations in the state, the Maharashtra Medical Education and Drugs Department (MED) directed the Directorate of Medical Education Research (DMER) and the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) to publish the timetable 45 days before exams for AYUSH and other courses. The MED also said that one day's gap must be given between each paper to the examinees.

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Maharashtra Education Minister Amit Deshmukh said that steps have been taken to conduct these examinations as per the guidelines of the National Medical Commission. He added that the safety of students in times of COVID-19 is the government’s top priority.

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CM Uddhav urges PM to postpone exams

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, seeking his intervention to direct the Medical Council of India to postpone the medical final year postgraduate exams till December 2020.

Mentioning that the final year MD/MS exam is conducted in the month of May or June by the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik, he stated that it had been postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Board of Directors of the MCI had issued an advisory to all universities to complete these exams by June 30, 2020. 

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Thackeray revealed that the final year resident doctors required to take these exams are presently working on the frontline in all municipal and government hospitals assisting the clinical management of COVID-19 patients. According to the Maharashtra CM, there would be a serious shortage of doctors during this crucial period if the exams are held as per schedule. Moreover, he also requested the entrance exam for DM/MCh to be scheduled after the conclusion of the final year MD/MS exam.

Coronavirus crisis in Maharashtra

Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Wednesday reported 3,890 new cases, taking the total count to 1,42,900. The state health department informed that 208 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, and the tally has risen to 6,739. A total of 4,161 patients were discharged on Wednesday and 73,792 patients have been discharged in the state so far, with the recovery of 51.64 per cent.

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(With inputs from ANI)

(Image credits: PTI)