One thing I constantly learn from seeing patients in my OPD is the primacy of trust. It is, I believe, one of the strongest reasons why the human doctor may never be completely replaced by AI. For a range of psychosomatic illnesses — conditions that resist clean diagnosis — it is often the trust a patient places in their doctor that becomes the cure itself. We call it different things: The placebo effect, the therapeutic relationship, even magic. But at its core, there is an inherent human distrust of machines, a deep-seated need to be seen and consoled by another person. As the NEET re-examination approaches, what comes to my mind is precisely this — the systematic leaching of trust.

Students will appear for the exam with a quiet, corrosive apprehension: “What if it gets cancelled again?” “What if there is another leak?” The uncertainty has already taken a devastating human toll. At least 13 aspirants have reportedly died by suicide in the aftermath of the paper leak controversy. A 20-year-old in Nagpur left behind a note inside her NEET preparation textbook. In another home, a grieving father held his son’s textbook tightly........

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