DNB training rules: leave, thesis, formative assessment and the final examination

About the source

This page records the 2022 edition of NBEMS’s Manual for DNB Broad Specialty Trainees, the edition linked from NBEMS’s programme pages when it was read. The manual says its instructions give an overview, “are liable to change based on decisions taken by the MoHFW/NMC/MCC/NBEMS”, and that trainees should follow the current bulletin or guideline for each process.

Two kinds of DNB course

• Post-MBBS DNB (three years) — entered through NEET-PG. MCC counsels these seats with MD, MS and diploma seats. Customarily called “primary DNB”.
• Post-diploma DNB (two years) — for holders of a recognised PG diploma in the same specialty, entered through DNB-PDCET, with counselling by NBEMS. Customarily called “secondary DNB”.

The manual lists 29 broad specialties for post-MBBS DNB, of which 14 also have a post-diploma course: Anaesthesiology, Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, Nuclear Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics, Otorhinolaryngology, Paediatrics, Pathology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Psychiatry, Radiation Oncology, Radio Diagnosis and Respiratory Medicine.

Candidates already pursuing or who have joined a DNB, MD, MS or diploma course are not eligible for another DNB seat for the whole prescribed duration of that course, “irrespective of their resignation or discontinuation” (Chapter 5).

NBEMS qualifications are recognised under section 37 of the NMC Act, 2019.

Registration with NBEMS

On joining, the trainee’s eligibility is checked against the entrance examination’s bulletin. Once the application and documents are accepted, NBEMS issues a Letter of Provisional Registration to the trainee and the training institution (Chapter 2).

Leave

For trainees who joined in or after 2018 (Chapter 8):

• Up to 30 days of leave a year, excluding regular duty-offs and gazetted holidays under the hospital’s calendar. It is processed by the institution.
• No study leave of any kind.
• Leave is not normally carried forward, but in exceptional cases such as prolonged illness it may be clubbed across the programme with NBEMS’s prior approval.
• Unauthorised absence of more than 7 days may lead to cancellation of registration and discontinuation of training, without permission to rejoin.
• Leave beyond 30 days a year extends training. Extension beyond the scheduled completion date is allowed only in extraordinary circumstances with NBEMS’s prior approval, and is neither automatic nor routine.
• Training must be complete by the cut-off date in the DNB final examination’s bulletin; otherwise the trainee waits for a later session.

Thesis

• The trainee writes a thesis protocol, which is evaluated by the institutional ethics committee of the training hospital. NBEMS does not approve protocols, but the approvals of the institutional ethics committee (IEC) and the SRC, as the manual abbreviates it, must be conveyed to NBEMS within the prescribed timelines.
• The completed thesis is submitted to NBEMS through the guide and assessed by subject experts. It may be returned for modification and resubmission.
• An accepted thesis earns a Thesis Acceptance Letter. Delay at any stage — protocol, approval or submission — can affect eligibility for the final examination (Chapter 2).

Formative assessment

• NBEMS holds a centralised Formative Assessment Test (FAT) in the 2nd year of the three-year course, or the 1st year of the two-year course: a theory examination followed by workplace-based assessment. In other years the institution conducts internal assessments on similar lines.
• FAT and internal assessment marks are not added to the final examination, but attending the minimum number is mandatory (Chapter 2).

The DNB final examination

The DNB final is a two-stage examination — theory, then practical — usually held in June and December (Chapters 2 and 14).

Theory

• Four papers of 100 marks each, typically ten short notes of 10 marks per paper, three hours each.
• Pass: 200 out of 400 in aggregate.
• Grace marks of up to 2% (8 marks) are given only to candidates scoring 192–199.
• Only those who pass theory may take the practical.

Practical

• 300 marks: OSCE and/or clinical examination, and viva. Pass: 150. No grace marks.
• Up to three attempts. The first is the practical in the same session in which theory is passed, and it is compulsory. Two further attempts may be taken in any two of the next three sessions, on paying the full examination fee.
• Not appearing after applying counts as an attempt.

The DNB is conferred once both stages are passed and the thesis has been accepted.

Conduct

The manual treats as unfair means, among other things, submitting a training certificate with wrong joining or completion dates, and appearing for a DNB or DrNB entrance examination after resigning from a DNB or DrNB course during its scheduled duration (Chapter 15).