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Articles & Research
Insights, perspectives, and evidence-based research from our healthcare professionals
Articles
Insights and perspectives from our healthcare professionals
Mental Health Crisis in Healthcare Professionals
Dr. Samiran Panda explores the psychological impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers and strategies for mental wellness support in medical institutions.
Advanced Implantology Techniques in Modern Dentistry
Dr. Anil Arya discusses cutting-edge dental implant procedures, patient care protocols, and the future of oral rehabilitation in India.
Developmental Pediatrics: Early Intervention Strategies
Dr. Shoma Lahiri shares insights on early childhood development assessment, nutritional interventions, and managing respiratory allergies in pediatric patients.
Healthcare Administration in Corporate Settings
Dr. Krishnendu Das Gupta reflects on 34 years of experience in healthcare administration, sharing lessons on effective medical service management.
General Surgery: Evolving Practices and Patient Safety
Dr. Veer Bhushan discusses modern surgical techniques, patient safety protocols, and the role of technology in improving surgical outcomes.
Medical Education Reform: A Think Tank Perspective
PROMISE Thinktank presents a comprehensive analysis of current medical education challenges and proposes innovative solutions for curriculum development.
NEET 2026: Beyond Cancellation, Towards Reform
The cancellation of the NEET-UG 2026 examination is disheartening, to say the least. As a doctor—and as the father of a child who undertook this arduous journey not very long ago—I can almost feel the anguish, uncertainty, and sense of despair that may now grip the nearly 23 lakh aspirants whose futures have suddenly been thrown into doubt.
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) was a historic reform introduced by the Government of India to create a uniform, merit-based system for admission to medical colleges. The establishment of the National Testing Agency (NTA) was another landmark step aimed at professionalising and standardising the conduct of high-stakes examinations.
However, a cancellation of this magnitude raises uncomfortable questions. It not only casts doubt on the capability of the NTA but also challenges the nation's ability to conduct secure, large-scale examinations that millions of students depend upon.
Since its introduction in 2017, NEET has grown into one of the world's largest entrance examinations. Participation has more than doubled over the past decade, reflecting both the growing demand for medical education and the intense competition for the limited number of seats. In 2026, more than 22 lakh candidates reportedly appeared for the examination, with female candidates constituting approximately 13.3 lakh aspirants—a remarkable testament to the increasing participation of women in medicine.
Paper leaks are unfortunately not unknown in India. Yet, when a breach affects an examination involving over 25 lakh candidates, the consequences become catastrophic—not only for students and their families but also for public confidence in institutions and for the exchequer, which bears the enormous cost of conducting such examinations
Several factors contribute to the incentive structure that makes paper leaks attractive to criminal networks:
1. The vast disparity in fees between government and private medical colleges.
2. Extremely high financial rewards associated with organised cheating.
3. A relatively low perceived risk of detection and conviction.
4. A single examination conducted on a single date, creating opportunities for manipulation.
5. Slow and cumbersome legal processes that often dilute the deterrent effect of punishment.
Addressing this challenge requires a comprehensive, multi-pronged strategy that tackles each of these factors. While a detailed policy blueprint is beyond the scope of this article, certain reforms deserve serious consideration.
First, NEET should transition to a fully computer-based examination across the country. Aspirants to a professional course such as medicine are expected to possess basic digital literacy. To ensure fairness, all candidates could undergo a mandatory 15–30 minute mock test before the examination, enabling them to familiarise themselves with the interface and reducing anxiety associated with the format.
Second, the examination should be conducted at least twice a year. This approach is already followed successfully in several postgraduate and super-speciality entrance examinations. Multiple examination windows would reduce the number of candidates per cycle, decrease the pressure associated with a single high-stakes event, and make large-scale manipulation more difficult. Further, regional paper sets can ensure that any compromise may be limited.
Third, examination centres must be standardised and upgraded. Dedicated internet connectivity, secure and safe infrastructure, continuous surveillance, and AI-assisted monitoring systems can help identify suspicious patterns and attempts at malpractice in real time.
A more contentious but necessary discussion concerns the age and attempt limits for NEET. The National Medical Commission prescribes upper age limits for appointments such as Senior Residency. It is therefore reasonable to examine whether age and attempt caps should also be considered for NEET-UG, NEET-PG, and NEET-SS examinations. Such a policy could reduce the overall examination burden while ensuring that successful candidates remain eligible for subsequent stages of medical training and employment.
The economic roots of the problem must also be addressed. The enormous difference in fees between government and private medical colleges creates powerful incentives for unethical practices. Expanding affordable medical education through the upgradation of district hospitals into government medical colleges—a policy already being pursued by the government—can help narrow this gap. However, infrastructure, faculty recruitment, and regulatory challenges remain significant obstacles.
An even more provocative question is whether chronic underperformance by certain medical colleges should invite stronger regulatory intervention, including, in exceptional cases, nationalisation. While such a measure would undoubtedly be controversial, the public interest in maintaining educational standards cannot be ignored.
Finally, the judiciary and legislature must work together to ensure swift and exemplary punishment for those involved in examination fraud. Justice delayed is justice denied. Delayed trials and prolonged litigation diminish deterrence and erode public confidence. Examination-related crimes affecting millions of students should be treated as offences against the nation's future and prosecuted accordingly.
It will be an understatement to say that the roll out of such an examination can be without hiccups, however extreme caution will need to be taken for its implementation. The government has already announced steps for future conduct like CBT from 2027 onwards, transport of papers by the IAF as well as expediting the legal process which are welcome steps.
The cancellation of NEET 2026 is undoubtedly a setback. Yet it also presents an opportunity. Rather than viewing it solely as an administrative failure, policymakers can treat it as a catalyst for deep structural reforms that strengthen the integrity, resilience, and credibility of India's examination system.
The aspirations of millions of young Indians deserve nothing less.
(Disclaimer: These are the original views of the author and not of the PROMISE Thinktank. Ai has been used to correct syntax and grammar.)
The author is a retired medical officer from the MoHFW, GoI and has also held senior administrative positions in the Indian Red Cross. He is also a founding member of the PROMISE Thinktank.
A Day in Residency
Long before dawn, the alarm goes off, but sleep has never truly taken hold. Another day in residency begins somewhere between incomplete case sheets, disturbed sleep, and the high-pitched sound of a monitor alarm that is still vivid in the mind. Time has already sped up inside the hospital walls, but the city outside is still silent.
White, sterile light fills the hallways. A resident rapidly moves through them with more than just a stethoscope: responsibility more than what the textbooks once imagined, uncertainty concealed behind efficiency, and exhaustion folded beneath professionalism. The mind carries names, investigations, prognoses, and invisible weight of human expectations; the apron pocket has pencils, notes, and automatically learned medication dosages.
Morning rounds serve as a ritual and a means of accountability. While residents convert chaos into order—laboratory values into meaning, symptoms into diagnoses, pain into achievable plans—consultants use precise clinical language. Each patient is a narrative interrupted by illness. Some express optimism, some rage, and some remain silent. The resident discovers that healing frequently starts with presence rather than medication.
Breakfast turns uncertain, with tea getting cold alongside unfinished papers. Duty is not postponed; hunger is. Hours are consumed by admissions, paperwork, procedures questions from family members, and urgent calls from wards where unexpected deterioration occurs. Before learning to pause completely, a resident learns to sprint.
Even so, there are times when fatigue subtly resists hopelessness.
After recovering from a fever, a child smiles.
An old patient recalls the name of the physician.
"Thank you for staying," a frightened relative says.
These little phrases turn into a means of survival.
By the afternoon, exhaustion becomes a second part of the body. Nevertheless, the resident goes on. They understand that practicing medicine requires both knowledge and perseverance. Every day, empathy and emotional exhaustion compete under the fluorescent lights. There are times when the resident feels like a machine of efficiency—documenting, calculating, reacting—until a patient's shaking hand brings back the long-forgotten reality that medicine is fundamentally human.
Night duty is an extension of an unfinished day rather than a separate shift. On duty room beds or library chairs, sleep has been compromised up into unintentional minutes. Casualty doors swing between tragedy and relief, elevators open to crises, and monitors beep in irregular rhythms.
Death is a part of some evenings.
One never forgets the first death.
The second isn't either.
Nor the odd expectation to keep on writing notes as soon as possible.
Clinical acumen is taught during residency, but it also teaches stillness—the silence of observing grief while repressing one's own. In times of crisis, residents learn to talk calmly even when their minds are shaking.
Nevertheless, something enduring appears in spite of the tiredness, missed meals, broken relationships, and the unrelenting math of duty hours.
A resident gradually develops into a healthcare professional.
Through frequent experiences with vulnerability, both their own and that of others, rather than just degrees or exams.
Another ward round starts, another emergency arises, and another group of interns arrives as dawn returns. The resident moves forward, adjusting the stethoscope, through the known corridor once again.
Maybe exhausted.
sometimes overwhelmed.
but continues to walk.
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Clinical Trial Outcomes in Dental Implantology
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