WHEN one speaks of medicine as a profession, the common refrain is to focus on the MBBS degree.  And with just over 40,325 seats, it is also one of the most competitive degree programmes to enter. The number of seats has grown up definitely from 1,200 coming out of the 19 medical schools in 1974 to 335 schools currently churning out 40000+ doctors.

But as a percentage of population this is a pathetic figure. Though efforts to increase the number of seats do occur, they are in no way sufficient, and hence tremendous pressure is exerted on students who need to secure a medical seat. The situation is worse with respect to specialties and super specialties in medicine. And the absence of a common enhance exam as well as admission in the management quota has resulted in almost a quagmire for medical aspirants. Instances of back door entry into medical colleges and capitation fees running to a few crores of rupees are not uncommon.

Photograph: Jitender Gupta /Outlook Group

ANATOMY is a crucial component of a five-year medical education.

The making of a doctor
Taking a closer look at the number of schools, one gets to know that the numbers of government and private institutes are more or less even across the country and so is the intake. Maharashtra (47), Karnataka (38) and Andhra Pradesh (34) have the maximum number of institutes with corresponding intake of 6412 students, 5254 and 4275 respectively. The State colleges are usually large, admitting 150-200 students a year. Others like All India Institute of Medical Science, New Delhi; JIPMER, Pondicherry; Government Medical College, Chandigarh; Institute of Medical Sciences, BHU, Varanasi, which are funded by central government, are open to students from all over India fighting it out for the coveted 50-75 seats in each college. Competition is also high for 50-60 seats in the Christian Medical College situated at Vellore, Ludhiana, and St John’s Bangalore. These schools are funded privately but are affiliated to State universities. If we look at the top 30 institutions (view table), seven are in the private sector with an intake of about 35% and the rest are government or university-affiliated colleges.

Photograph: Sutter Stock

A dentist takes X-Ray of a patient. Such technologies have made diagnosis accurate.

The MBBS Internship
Every candidate, after passing the final MBBS examination, has to undergo a compulsory rotational internship for a period of 12 months so as to be eligible for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and full registration. During this year, six months are devoted to learning tertiary care being rendered in teaching hospital/district hospital, three months of secondary care in a small district or taluka hospital/community health centre and three months in primary healthcare.

TO BE A DENTAL SURGEON
As compared to MBBS, dentistry is slightly easier to get admission to. With just over 23,000 seats (as compared to 40,000 seats in MBBS), it might appear to be more difficult to enter. The cut-offs for dental colleges is  way below that for the medical colleges.

Photograph: AFP

Advances in medicine has resulted in surgical procedures even for wild animals.

• Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology: This is about the  diagnosis and treatment of  diseases using clinical, radiographic, microscopic, biochemical, or other examinations.
• Endodontics: It includes the basic and clinical sciences including the biology of the normal pulp, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases and injuries of the pulp (popularly called as the root canal treatment)
• Periodontics: It is the study of diseases of gums and its effects and treatment.
• Pedodontics: Focuses on the  oral health of children from infancy through the teen years.
• Prosthodontics: It is a special branch of dentistry that concentrates all its skills and science that make mouth, teeth, and face work right, feel right, look right, and stay right.
• Oral Surgery:  Deals with  diagnosing and treating oral disease, in particular benign and malignant tumors of the jaws, head and neck. 
• Orthodontics:   A specialisation in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of dental and facial irregularities.

Admission and Counselling
The admission process is the same as that for MBBS with common entrance exam.

CARE GIVING FOR ANIMALS
The third and relatively less known aspect of medical profession is the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in animals. The Bachelor of Veterinary Sciences (BVSc) programme is offered in at least 28 colleges in the country, which are approved by the Veterinary Council of India.