Is the medical profession your calling?

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.

Alternatives like Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Siddha, Dentistry and Veterinary exists for medical aspirants and demand for some of them - like Veterinary and Ayurveda - are on the rise. But an MBBS still remains the ultimate choice for any medical aspirant.

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.

Among the private or trust-owned colleges, the admission is equally competitive. The competition, however, is not as much for the students than it is for the parents who are unable to afford the high tuition and ‘other’ fees. Admissions are not restricted to students in India and as a matter of fact overseas students are encouraged to study. For instance Kasturba Medical College in Karnataka, established in 1953, admits students from foreign countries including the United States of America. Similarly States like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat have quite a few of these high-intake, high-fee colleges. 

The admission process
Due to the limited number of colleges, it is complex and one-time affair in most of the cases. While each State has a common admission test for the government colleges and a certain percentage of seats in private colleges, individual private colleges admit students through either a common admission test or individual tests. 15% of the seats from all medical colleges (except Andra Pradesh) comes through All India Pre-medical pre Dental Entrance exam (AIPMT). The counselling for AIPMT is done by the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health.

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.

What is dentistry?
Dentistry is defined as the evaluation, diagnosis, prevention and/or treatment (nonsurgical, surgical or related procedures) of diseases, disorders and/or conditions of the oral cavity, and associated structures and their impact on the human body. The Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) is the primary qualification essential to practise the same.

Surgical and medical are the two forms of treatments that a dentist provides. Dentistry would include teeth cleaning, filling of oral cavities, smile correction, replacement of damaged tooth and so on. Cosmetology is an upcoming branch of dentistry where the surgeons work on the teeth to make them attractive.  This segment has seen very high rate of growth within the profession.

The following are the specialties in this field 

• 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.

What is Veterinary Science?
It is the science of diagnosing, treating and curing the diverse types of diseases in birds and animals. The subject broadly covers the study of animal physiology, treatment and prevention of diseases among animals. In addition to treatment of animals, their activities also include animal husbandry ie animal breed improvement by ‘selective breeding’ by way of artificial insemination.

With one of the largest livestock populations in the world, India is woefully inadequate with the provision of their medical care and treatment. With the rise in pet population in cities, the profession is also finding roots in urban area. Similarly, there has been an unprecedented growth in the poultry sector and animal products’ technology sector, resulting in an increased demand for veterinarians in different sectors of livestock and poultry. VS is an excellent option for those who care for animals.

 
So if a stethoscope and injections have been your childhood dream, this is the place to be!