MBBS students to be utilized for COVID-19 duty; NEET-PG postponed
In order to increase the availability of medical personnel amid spiralling coronavirus cases all across India, the government has taken several measures. Various incentives have been offered to medical students deployed on COVID-19 duty, the Prime Minister's Office announced today. Further, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Postgraduate) or the NEET-PG examination has been postponed by at least four months. Here are more details.
Final Year students of MBBS will now be utilized for the teleconsultation and monitoring of mild coronavirus cases under the supervision of the faculty. Further, BSc/General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) nurses will be asked to perform full-time COVID-19 nursing duties under the supervision of senior doctors and nurses, the PMO said, according to news agency ANI.
The government has also promised several incentives for medical interns and students deployed on COVID-19 duty. Medical personnel who complete 100 days of COVID-19 duty would be given priority in forthcoming government recruitment drives. They will also be given the Prime Minister's Distinguished COVID National Service Samman, reports said. The move is expected to significantly boost the availability of medical staffers to handle COVID-19.
Students will now be notified one month before the new exam date, the government release said. The medical entrance exam was originally scheduled to be held on April 18, 2021, and admit cards had already been released.
Doctors and other frontline healthcare workers across India are overworked and exhausted as a dreadful second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has gripped the country. India has been reporting lakhs of infections and hundreds of deaths daily for the past few weeks. In fact, private as well as state-run medical facilities in several states are struggling to arrange medical oxygen and other essential supplies.
