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Deconstructing The Stance of Medical Education in India

rus
July 19, 2022

With a total of approximately 87,000 medical seats in India for lakhs of NEET-qualified students, a major percentage of the students, unfortunately, have to move out of their way due to the lack of details about the opportunities available for them in the country. Many times, there is also an issue of proper guidance and counselling among the students as they assume NEET and MBBS to be their only targets. 

Answering some of the major questions and concerns of the students, here is a complete and comprehensive guide for the students aspiring to join the medical discipline.

Q1. Does admission in all the medical courses in India require NEET Qualification?

Though under the NMC/MCI guidelines, most undergraduate course in India requires the student to qualify for the NEET exam for admissions, however, there are some courses in which the admissions are facilitated based on academic merits instead. 

Medical Course in India That Requires NEET Score for Admission

Medical Course in India That Does Not Require NEET Score for Admission

  • M.B.B.S. (Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery)
  • B.D.S. (Bachelor of Dental Surgery)
  • B.H.M.S. (Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine & Surgery)
  • B.A.M.S. (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine & Surgery)
  • B.S.M.S. (Bachelor of Siddha Medical Sciences)
  • B.V.Sc (Bachelor of Veterinary Science)
  • B.U.M.S. (Bachelor of Unani Medicine & Surgery)
  • B.Sc. (Nursing)
  • B.Pharma (Bachelor of Pharmacy)
  • B.P.T. (Physiotherapy)
  • B.N.Y.Sc. (Bachelor of Naturopathy & Yogic Sciences)*

*NEET score card may be mandatory for this course in some states like M.P. 

Q2. What is the career plan with MBBS?

The MBBS course in India generally is of 5.5 years (including 1 year of compulsory rotatory internship). After which the students can also pursue Postgraduate courses such as M.D. (Doctor of Medicine); M.S. (Master of Surgery); DNB (Diplomate of National Board). The duration of all these courses is generally 3 years.

If interested, the student can also pursue their super specialisations and pursue specialisations and super specialisations such as D.M. (Doctorate in Medicine), M.Ch. (Master of Chirurgical), DNB, etc. the duration of which remains to be 3 years.

Admitting to some of these courses often requires the student to qualify the exams such as NEET-PG, DNB and so on.

Q3. What are fields to pursue specialisation?

Depending upon their interests and choice, there are several options for major and super specializations the students can pursue after the completion of their undergraduate & post-graduate degrees. The table below mentions several fields of specialization that medical students can avail themselves of in India and abroad.

Major Specializations

Super Specializations

  • General Medicine
  • General Surgery
  • Paediatrics
  • Obstetrics & Gynaecology
  • Dermatology
  • Ophthalmology
  • Orthopaedics
  • ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat)
  • Psychiatry
  • Anaesthesiology
  • Plastic Surgery
  • Neurosurgery
  • Cardiothoracic Surgery
  • Genito-urinary Surgery
  • Paediatric Surgery
  • Gastroenterology
  • Endocrinology
  • Clinical Haematology

Q4. What is the total number of colleges & seats in India for MBBS, BDS & Aayush?

The total number of seats in India for medical studies (including fields like MBBS. BDS, BAMS, BHMS, Veterinary, B.S.M.S., Unani) is approximately 1,66,252 distributed over 1671 medical colleges in India.

S.No.

Course

Colleges

Seats

1.

M.B.B.S.

600

91,645

2.

B.D.S.

321

27,800

3.

B.A.M.S.

345

21,782

4.

B.H.M.S.

244

18,281

5.

Veterinary

53

3,344

6.

B.S.M.S

12

740

7.

Unani

96

2,660

Total

1671

1,66,252

Q5. Which state/cities in India have the most and least medical seats?

Tamil Nadu has the highest number of MBBS number seats, i.e., 10825 in 69 medical colleges (32 government and 32 private colleges). Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar, Goa, Meghalaya and Sikkim has only 1 government medical college and no private college. Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have the lowest number of medical seats, 50.

Here is a detailed list of all the medical seats distributed in the various states of India.

S.No.

State (College)

Govt

Private

Total

Seats

1

Andaman Nicobar

1

0

1

100

0

100

2

Andhra Pradesh

13

18

31

2420

2850

5270

3

Assam

8

0

8

1100

0

1100

4

Arunachal Pradesh

1

0

1

50

0

50

5

Bihar

12

8

20

1490

1050

2540

6

Chandigarh

1

0

1

150

0

150

7

Chhattisgarh

8

4

12

965

600

1565

8

Dadra & Nagar

1

0

1

150

0

150

9

Delhi

8

2

10

1222

350

1572

10

Goa

1

0

1

180

0

180

11

Gujrat

17

13

30

3650

2000

5650

12

Haryana

5

7

12

710

950

1660

13

Himachal Pradesh

6

1

7

720

150

870

14

Jammu & Kashmir

8

1

9

985

100

1085

15

Jharkhand

7

2

9

630

250

880

16

Karnataka

20

42

62

3000

7095

10095

17

Kerala

10

21

31

1554

2700

4255

18

Madhya Pradesh

14

11

25

2155

1900

4055

19

Maharashtra

29

32

61

4850

4970

9820

20

Manipur

2

1

3

225

150

375

21

Meghalaya

1

0

1

50

0

50

22

Orissa

9

4

13

1350

750

2100

23

Pondicherry

2

7

9

380

1150

1530

24

Punjab

5

7

12

750

950

1700

25

Rajasthan

17

5

22

3000

950

3950

26

Sikkim

0

1

1

0

150

150

27

Tamil Nadu

37

32

69

5425

5400

10825

28

Telangana

11

22

33

1790

3500

5290

29

Tripura

1

1

2

125

100

225

30

Uttarakhand

5

3

8

675

450

1125

31

Uttar Pradesh

35

31

66

4178

4850

9028

32

West Bengal

20

8

28

3150

1000

4150

33

Mizoram

1

0

1

100

0

100

*List includes state-wise AIIMS too                                *Data Source- MCI(NMC) and other websites

Q6. How many medical entrance examinations?

There were 3 medical entrance examinations for admissions in the medical colleges of India. Each examination categorises a respective medical college under itself namely NEET, AIIMS and JIPMR, however as of 2022, NEET would be the only entrance examination for all the medical colleges in India as well as abroad.

Q7. What is the exam pattern for NEET?

NEET Key Highlights

Mode of Exam: Offline

Exam Format: Objective

Duration: 3 hrs 20 min

Types of Question: MCQs

Physics: 50 questions

Chemistry: 50 questions

Biology (Botany & Zoology): 50+50 question

No. of Questions: 200

Total Marks of Examination: 720 marks

Marking Scheme: +4 for correct option & -1 for incorrect options

Q8. What were the cut-off marks for NEET 2021 for qualification?

Category NEET Qualification Percentile NEET Qualifying Score (out of 720) Qualified Candidates
UR 50th Percentile 138 2,39,789
OBC 40th Percentile 108 3,96,772
SC 40th Percentile 108 1,14,221
ST 40th Percentile 108 40,193
EWS 50th Percentile 138 79,099

Q9. What was NEET cut off of the top 10 state medical colleges?

Comparing the cut-offs for NEET 2021 and 2020, here are the top 10 state medical colleges and their closing ranks.

S.No College 2020 NEET Closing Rank 2021 NEET Closing Rank
1. Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi 90 87
2. VMMC & Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi 163 143
3. University College of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 324 215
4. Lady Harding Medical College, New Delhi 571 531
5. Govt Medical College, Chandigarh 776 455
6. State G.S. Medical College, Mumbai  457 708
7. King’s George Medical College, Lucknow 1800 1623
8. Stanley Medical College, Chennai 5253 6044
9. Pt. Bhagwat Dayal Sharma PG Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak 6573 6379
10. Grant Medical College & Sir JJ Group of Hospitals 2828 2869

Q10. How many medical seats are there in AIIMS, JIPMER & AFMC?

There are a total of 20 AIIMS across the country which as around 787 seats for UR, 193 seats for SC, 522 seats in ST, 290 seats in OBS and 15 seats in EWS (excluding PwBD seats for each category). Therefore, there is a total of 2037 medical seats in all the AIIMS.

In the two Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research- Puducherry and Karaikal, there is a total of 187 and 62 seats, i.e. 249 seats.

For admission to Armed Force Medical College, after the screening in the NEET exam, the students have to qualify ToELR test, and Psychological Assessment Test (PAT) and qualify for the interview with the board members. The total seats available at the AFMC are 150. (115 boys, 30 girls and 5 sponsored Candidates).

Conclusion

The above distribution of seats is as on the provided data by various sources and can fluctuate as the new institutes and training centres are established. As these figures show the best institutes and the number of available seats, it also highlights the cut-throat competition the medical aspiring students have to face to fulfil their dream. 

The rigorous routines of the admission process can certainly be exhausting, and if the students are working through private medical colleges, they might have to arrange for hefty donations and fees.

Therefore, these thousands of numbers for the lakhs of NEET qualified students often lead many of them to seek their options with MBBS abroad. If you are also one of them or simply wish to know about all your opportunities in India or abroad, dial up our student helpline number 1800-833-3338, visit us in nearby offices or share your query with us.