National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Master of Dental Surgery

NEET MDS, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Master of Dental Surgery, is the single entrance examination prescribed under the Dentists Act, 1948 for admission to MDS courses in India. It works as an eligibility-cum-ranking test: your score and rank decide which postgraduate dental seats you can compete for. The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) conducts it.

To sit for it you need a recognised BDS degree from a university or institute in India, registration with a State Dental Council, and completion of the compulsory one-year rotatory internship by the cut-off date the cycle sets. Candidates still serving their internship may apply if they will finish it by that date. The exam itself is a computer-based test of multiple-choice questions set at the standard of the BDS course.

A single rank feeds every route into MDS. It covers the All India 50% quota seats, the state quota seats allotted by the respective state authorities, and seats at private dental colleges, institutions and universities and at the armed forces medical services institutions.

Sources: NBEMS – NEET-MDS (National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences) · Careers360 – NEET-MDS exam pattern, eligibility and syllabus