Combined Medical Services Examination
 Civil Service Exam in India | |
| Exam Overview | |
|---|---|
| Acronym | UPSC CMSE |
| Type | Objective Type |
| Administrator | Union Public Service Commission |
| Year started | 1977 |
| Skills tested | Medical knowledge (MBBS level) |
| Purpose | Recruitment of Group A Medical Officers |
| Duration | Paper I - 2 hours Paper II - 2 hours Personality Test ~ 30 minutes |
| Maximum Marks | Paper I - 250 Paper II - 250 Personality Test - 100 |
| Negative Marking | Yes |
| Offered | Once a year |
| Regions |  India |
| Languages | English |
| Number of Applicants | 50,334 (2023)[1] |
| Number of Test takers | 27,808 (2023)[1] |
| Applicants to Posts Ratio | 39.92 (2023)[1] |
| Prerequisites | MBBS Degree |
| Fee | ₹200 |
| Used by | CHS IRHS NDMC MCD |
| Website | https://upsc.gov.in/ |
The Combined Medical Services Examination or the CMS Examination is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for recruitment of Medical Officers (Group A posts) to various Government Services/Organizations such as the Central Health Service (CHS), Indian Railways, Municipal Corporation of Delhi and New Delhi Municipal Council.[2]
In 2024, Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) announced recruitment to the posts of Insurance Medical Officers Grade-II in ESI Corporation through the disclosure lists of Combined Medical Services Examination conducted in the years 2022 and 2023.[3]
History
[edit]The Combined Examination for recruitment to Medical posts under Central Government was first conducted by UPSC on 18 February 1977.[4] Prior to 1977, recruitment to these posts was on the basis of interview.[5] CMSE 2007 introduced the Negative Marking in the evaluation of Objective type question papers.[6] From CMSE 2010 onwards, female candidates were granted exemption from payment of exam fee.[7] CMSE 2014 introduced the Computer Based Mode of Examination.[8] From CMSE 2017 onwards, UPSC implemented the Public Disclosure Scheme for making publicly available the Scores of those candidates who appeared in the final stage of the examination but were not recommended. This is to ensure that other recruiting bodies can use this data to recruit these qualified candidates who are willing to publicly disclose their scores.[9] Syllabus of the examination was changed in CMSE 2018.[10] From CMSE 2020 onwards, the upper age limit for Medical Officer Grade of CHS GDMO sub-cadre was enhanced from 32 years to 35 years.[11]
Services/Posts
[edit]Through Combined Medical Services Examination, the Medical Officers are being recruited to following services or organisations.[12]
| CATEGORY - I | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Medical Officer Grade (Level 10) in the General Duty Medical Officer (GDMO) sub-cadre of the Central Health Service (CHS) |
| CATEGORY - II | |
| 1 | Assistant Divisional Medical Officer (ADMO) in the Indian Railway Health Service (IRHS) |
| 2 | General Duty Medical Officer in the New Delhi Municipal Council |
| 3 | General Duty Medical Officer Grade -II in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi |
Eligibility Criteria
[edit]- Nationality: Citizen of India; Subject of Nepal or Bhutan; and some Tibetan refugees, a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka or East African Countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire and Ethiopia or from Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.
- Age: Must not have attained the age of 32 years (for the Central Health Service (CHS) posts, the upper age limit must not exceed 35 years), with relaxations for various categories such as SC, ST & OBC.[13]
- Educational Qualifications: Passed the written and practical parts of the final MBBS Examination.[14]
Scheme of Examination
[edit]Part I : Written Examination
[edit]An objective-type written examination with two papers of two hours duration, each carrying a maximum of 250 marks. Both papers are attempted on the same day.
Paper I
Maximum Marks : 250
| Subject | Questions |
|---|---|
| General Medicine | 96 |
| Paediatrics | 24 |
Paper II
Maximum Marks : 250
| Subject | Questions |
|---|---|
| Surgery (including ENT, Ophthalmology, Traumatology and Orthopaedics) | 40 |
| Gynaecology & Obstetrics | 40 |
| Preventive & Social Medicine | 40 |
Candidates who qualify in the written examination are called for an Interview/Personality Test.
Part II : Personality Test
[edit]Personality Test carrying 100 marks conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for those candidates qualifying the written examination.[15]
Medical Examination
[edit]The candidates need to undergo a medical examination to assess fitness, prior to appointment.
Exam Statistics
[edit]| Year of Examination | 2015[16] | 2016[17] | 2017[9] | 2018[10] | 2019[18] | 2020[11] | 2021[19] | 2022[20] | 2023[21][22] | 2024[23] | 2025[13] | 2026[24] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Posts | 1402 | 1025 | 717 | 504 | 919 | 560 | 845 | 687 | 1261 | 827 | 705 | 1358 |
| Number of Applicants | 31,786 | 33,986 | 39,166 | 40,556 | 36,415 | 43,120 | 60,154 | 49,026 | 50,334 | |||
| Candidates appeared for Exam | 15,420 | 16,864 | 18,183 | 19,873 | 19,479 | 20,213 | 23,299 | 20,613 | 27,808 | |||
| Candidates Interviewed | 2998 | 3288 | 1585 | 1447 | 1856 | 1150 | 1176 | 963 | 2538 | |||
| Applicants to Posts Ratio (APR) | 22.67 | 33.15 | 54.62 | 80.46 | 39.62 | 77.00 | 71.19 | 71.36 | 39.92 |
| Year of Examination | 2020[25] | 2021[26] | 2022[27] | 2023[28] | 2024[29] | 2025[30] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cut-off Marks at Final Stage (Out of 600) | Category - I | 365 | 370 | 324 | 332 | 403 | 380.20 |
| Category - II | 357 | 369 | 319 | 322 | 386 | 368.45 | |
Cadre allocation
[edit]Once the final results are declared by the UPSC, the cadre allocation for the selected candidates are done by the CHS-I section of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) according to the cadre preferences submitted by the candidates and their ranks.[31]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 UPSC 73rd Annual Report 2022-2023
- ↑ Notification for Combined Medical Services Examination 2024
- ↑ "ESIC IMO Grade-II Recruitment - CMSE" (PDF).
- ↑ 28th Annual Report of UPSC, 1978
- ↑ 27th Annual Report of UPSC, 1977
- ↑ https://www.saarc-sec.org/index.php/resources/publications/62-comparative-study-on-public-service-commissions-published-copy/file
- ↑ 60th Annual Report of UPSC 2009-2010
- ↑ 65th Annual Report of UPSC 2014-2015
- 1 2 68th Annual Report of UPSC 2017-2018
- 1 2 69th Annual Report of UPSC 2018-2019
- 1 2 71st Annual Report of UPSC 2020-2021
- ↑ "'Discrepancies' in medical service exam: Congress whip in Lok Sabha to PM Modi". 20 November 2024.
- 1 2 UPSC Combined Medical Services Examination 2025 Notification dated 19/02/2025
- ↑ "Eligibility Conditions"
- ↑ "Syllabus and Exam Pattern"
- ↑ 66th Annual Report of UPSC 2015-2016
- ↑ 67th Annual Report of UPSC 2016-2017
- ↑ 70th Annual Report of UPSC 2019-2020
- ↑ 73rd Annual Report of UPSC 2022-2023
- ↑ UPSC CMSE 2022 Notification
- ↑ UPSC CMSE 2023 Notification
- ↑ UPSC Annual Report 2023-2024
- ↑ UPSC CMSE 2024 Notification
- ↑ UPSC CMS Examination 2026 Notification
- ↑ "Combined Medical Services Examination, 2020" (PDF). upsc.gov.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
- ↑ "Combined Medical Services Examination, 2021" (PDF). upsc.gov.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
- ↑ "Combined Medical Services Examination, 2022" (PDF). upsc.gov.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
- ↑ "Combined Medical Services Examination, 2023" (PDF). upsc.gov.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
- ↑ "Combined Medical Services Examination, 2024" (PDF). upsc.gov.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 January 2025. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
- ↑ UPSC CMSE 2025 Final Cut-Off Marks
- ↑ Cadre Allocation of Category-II CMSE 2024
