New Delhi : Favouring a common entrance test for undergraduate and post-graduate courses in medical colleges across the country, the newly-constituted board of governors of MCI on Tuesday said it has approached the CBSE to work out modalities for introduction of the system from 2011.

The board, which was reconstituted after dissolution of the corruption-hit Medical Council of India, has approached medical colleges with the proposal which have agreed to it.

"We hope to have a common entrance test...Next time we meet, we will be able to announce the dates also," S.K. Sarin, head of the board, said.

He said a single entrance test would substantially reduce the stress level of the students, who, under the current system, have to sit for seven tests for getting admission in medical colleges. The board has already approached the CBSE to formulate the details for conducting such a test, replacing all other exams that are conducted for admission into government as well private medical colleges in the country.

"We have already contacted the CBSE. It will decide how to go about it, including the syllabus. The test will cover all government, private and even minority institutions," Sarin said.

Admission tests are conducted yearly for nearly 32,000 undergraduate seats and 13,000 post graduate seats in medical colleges across the country.

"This will ensure that the students are not stressed out. Under the current system, they have appear in more than seven entrance tests for getting admission. After the new system is introduced, the students will have to appear in only one test," said Devi Shetty, one of the members of the Board.