INFORMATION FROM PROMETRIC SITE ABOUT DATE OF DNB CET

INFORMATION FROM PROMETRIC SITE ABOUT DATE OF DNB CET

DIPLOMATE OF NATIONAL BOARD CENTRALISED ENTRANCE TEST (DNB-CET)

Conducted twice a year, the next DNB-CET testing window will be from 15 November  –  21 November 2013 across 38 cities. Candidates who are in possession of MBBS degree / Provisional Pass Certificate recognised as per the provisions of the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 and possess permanent / provisional registration certificate of MBBS qualification issued by the Medical Council of India and have completed one year of internship / likely to complete on or before 31 Jan 2014 may apply for DNB-CET January 2014 Admission Session. A candidate can only appear once during the testing window.
Candidates need to purchase an Information Bulletin-cum-Examination Fee Voucher (Rs. 4250) from selected Axis Bank branches before going online to register for and schedule their test via www.cet.natboard.edu.in. Candidates will be able to select their preferred location, date and time during this process. Only options available at the point of scheduling will be shown to candidates. Once the candidate has completed his/her scheduling process, there will be no option to reschedule. The list of test centres is available on www.cet.natboard.edu.in.

IMPORTANT DATES:
Sale of DNB-CET Examination Fee Voucher 3 Oct – 1 Nov 2013
Registration / Scheduling for DNB-CET 3 Oct – 3 Nov 2013
DNB-CET Testing Window 15 Nov – 21 Nov 2013

LINK HERE

THIS IS INFORMATION FROM PROMETRIC SITE .CONFIRMATION ON THESE DATES CAN BE OBTAINED ONLY WHEN NATIONAL BOARD PUBLISH EXAM DATES

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF DNB COUNSELLING

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF DNB COUNSELLING

AUGUST DNB CET RESULT WILL BE PUBLISHED SOON

AUGUST DNB CET RESULT WILL BE PUBLISHED SOON

National Board of Examinations
(DNBCET)
Dated : September 24th 2013
Notice

Subject  : Result of DNBCET August 2013 

1.     Result cum Merit list of applicant candidates of DNB Centralized Entrance Test (DNBCET) conducted by NBE in August 2013 has been declared. The result can be seen at Notice Board at Ansari Nagar Office of NBE, New Delhi.  The result shall be available on NBE website very shortly.  
2.     Tie of merit position shall be resolved at the time of counseling upon verification of original documents of the candidate as per the criteria mentioned in the Information Bulletin.
3.     Candidature is purely provisional subject to fulfillment of eligibility criteria as mentioned in the DNBCET Information Bulletin and verification of the original documents at the time of Centralized Merit Based Counseling conducted by NBE.

4.     In case, any candidate does not fulfill the eligibility criteria, his/her name shall be automatically taken off from the merit list.
LINK HERE

AIIMS MD/MS NOVEMBER APPLICATION

AIIMS MD/MS NOVEMBER APPLICATION

Entrance Examination in online mode : 10.11.2013
Expected date of declaration of Result 15.11.2013 (Tentative)
1st Counseling 12.12.2013 (Tentative)
2nd Counseling 19.12.2013 (Tentative)

Open Selection 27.01.2013

APPLICATION NOW AVAILABLE IN  www.aiimsexams.org

FOR PROSPECTUS CLICK HERE

Last date for Online Registration of 
Application on AIIMS website 
www.aiimsexams.org
: 15.10.2013

(upto 5:00 P.M.)

AIIMS faculty to boycott convocation

The Faculty at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has decided to “boycott the convocation of the Institute” scheduled for Thursday and has written to AIIMS director Dr. R. C. Deka informing him of their decision.

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad is scheduled to preside over the convocation for which World Health Organisation Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan has been invited to deliver the 41st convocation address. The convocation will be held at the Institute’s Jawaharlal Auditorium.

Accusing the Institute administration of having a callous attitude towards the various complaints of the senior faculty and of undeserved humiliation being heaped on their colleagues, the Faculty Association of the Institute has decided to “follow a policy of non-cooperation until these issues are resolved satisfactorily”.

In their letter to the AIIMS Director, the faculty members have noted that “despite our repeated requests the AIIMS administration is yet to call a governing body meeting to review the case of our 19 colleagues whose promotions under the assessment promotion scheme have been withheld this year”.

“The denial of promotion to 10-15 per cent of the faculty during every assessment promotion scheme has led to demoralisation and despondency at AIIMS, adversely affecting its functioning,” said a senior faculty member.

He added that in view of the “undeserved humiliation of our colleagues again this year, and the callous attitude of the AIIMS administration, FAIIMS had adopted a general body resolution on July 25 and a copy of this has been submitted to the Institute Director”.

As per the resolution, the FAIIMS has taken a decision to “boycott official and social functions and the forthcoming convocation until this issue is resolved satisfactorily”.

“The AIIMS administration has unfortunately not made any effort or taken any steps to resolve the issue so we are forced to stay non-cooperative with the Institute administration,” added a senior faculty.

PGI APPLICATION NOW AVAILABLE

ADMISSION NOTIFICATION CLICK HERE

PROSPECTUS CLICK HERE

APPLICATION FORM CLICK HERE

EXAMINATION SCHEDULE (TENTATIVE):
1. MD/MS Date Time
Entrance Examination : 17.11.2013 10.00 AM
Declaration of Result : 18.11.2013 09:00 PM
1st Counselling : 14.12.2013 12:00 Noon
2nd Counselling : 10.01.2014 02:30 PM
3rd Counselling : 20.01.2014 02.30 PM
House Job (if any seat lying vacant) : 07.02.2014 Time will be displayed 
on PGI website
2. House Job (OHS)
Entrance Examination : 01.12.2013 10.00 AM
Declaration of Result : 02.12.2013 09:00 AM
Counselling/Interview : 03.12.2013 12.00 Noon
3. DM/M.Ch/MHA
Entrance Examination : 12.12.2013 10.00 AM
Declaration of Result : 13.12.2013 08:00 AM
Clinical/Practical Examination : 13.12.2013 09:00 AM

Counselling/Interview : 14.12.2013 11:30 AM
CLOSING DATE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATION : 12/10/2013

A case for pride and reform in medical education

A case for pride and reform in medical education

THOUGH late, the Government of India has realised the importance of health and education as two important pillars of economic well being. The increase in population, health care demands, need for basic doctors and specialists and the public sector’s inability to foresee fulfil the needs provided ample opportunity for private players to enter medical education.

In the last decade, these outnumbered government medical colleges. The demand and supply gap was huge and the arena so lucrative that politicians, middlemen and people with connections started influencing the policy makers, including the Medical Council of India (MCI), an autonomous body established through an Act of Parliament in 1956. Unfortunately, keepers of the law remained silent spectators, till the lid was blown. CBI raids on top MCI officials and several colleges brought so much ignominy on the government that it was forced to bring about a change. The government appointed a team of professionals with integrity as the Board of Governors (BoG) in mid-2010 — to bring to shore a sinking ship against the unfavourable winds and hungry sharks. The situation demanded swift action.

The board fast-tracked the routine monitoring of colleges by simplifying norms to set up and recognise medical colleges, facilitated increase in the seats, setting up web-based faculty identification system (to prevent passing off the same faculty in more than one college), changing ‘inspector raj’ (removing permanent inspectors) to ‘professional assessments’, etc. To maintain the ‘quality before quantity’ principle, the shortage of teachers was met by raising the retirement age from 65 to 70 and by permitting trained DNB specialists to be considered for teaching.

However, the BoG realised that monitoring skills and quality of education in about 340 medical colleges was not easy and would not yield the desired results. They decided it was better to assess the ‘product’, the medical graduate. This can only be done by ensuring good ‘raw material’ and a quality finished product. This gave birth to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and the National Exit Examination, a licentiate exam to qualify as an Indian Medical Graduate (IMG). The BoG defined the proficiency level of an IMG. We do hope this exit exam, which includes testing knowledge and skills (makes internship purposeful), is introduced soon so that the suffering lot do not have to wonder where has the doctor graduated from!

AS THE NATIONAL ELIGIBILITY-CUM-ENTRANCE TEST BECAME A REALITY IN 2012, THE PRIVATE PLAYERS IN THE MEDICAL EDUCATION INDUSTRY WERE NOT READY TO ACCEPT IT. THEY WANTED THE OLD SYSTEM OF REGIONAL EXAMS, SO THEY COULD FIX THE 

PRICE OF SEATS.

The BoG-2010 also designed several new career options after MBBS, such as M.Med (previously called diplomas) and dual courses (MD-PhD). The need and process for equalising the PG and UG seats was set in place by removing ‘essentiality clause’ from PG education. This document on medical education, vetted by nearly 300 college deans and vice-chancellors, was called ‘Vision 2015’, and was well received.

The quality of ‘raw material’ entering the medical stream has become questionable, because of conflict between the payers and non-payers, the private and public colleges. ‘Simran Jain versus Union of India’ was a case in context before the Supreme Court. The BoG saw an opportunity to establish a common entrance test. It developed a comprehensive policy and took on board different states having their own educational priorities and standards. The BoG had its eye on the poor village boy studying under a lamp post with the dream of entering the AIIMS on merit, with no resources or ‘connections’. The issues of quota, religion, rural and urban, rich and poor, coaching institutes, etc, were, however, overbearing. The BoG took help from the CBSE to standardise various state board syllabi, set up eligibility and seat allocation criteria, allowing state reservation policies their say, and with the patronage of the Central government placed before the highest court a fair and transparent system for a national entrance examination.

In a landmark judgment, on December 13, the highest court gave the green signal for the NEET. After some initial hitches, the GoI undertook to have the NEET for both UG and the PG medical entrance in 2012. It was dream come true for thousands of students, right thinking medical men and hailed as a major milestone in ensuring equitable and affordable opportunity in a capitation-driven industry called medical education. The NEET breathed in minimum eligibility and a uniform and transparent assessment system which was convenient and economical; alleviating the need for students and parents to rush to nine-ten centres across India for entrance examinations. Above all, from the national perspective, it was to reduce corruption and malpractice. If you enter the profession by corrupt means, your approach and practice of medicine is bound to be tainted.

As the NEET became a reality in 2012, the private players in medical education industry were not ready to accept it. They wanted the old system of regional exams which permitted them to fix the price of the medical seats based on the demand. They knew the supply could not meet the demand for many years. They bought the best legal brains of the country, who joined hands to defeat ‘truth’ and the rights of ‘the village boy’ to be a doctor. In an unprecedented move, the highest court permitted the private players to hold their own admissions despite the NEET having been already conducted.

But there is hope. The Supreme Court judgment was divided, the dissenting clear verdict of a senior judge allowed a review writ petition by the GoI. The petitioners would again be challenged by the best legal brains. Why does the medical profession not join hands to clean up its own muck? Why does it want others to decide for it issues such as bringing in Indian Medical Council Amendments (2013). When chartered accountants, engineers, the IAS, the Bars (CLAT) can have a common entrance examinations, why should the very genesis of the medical profession be allowed to become unethical? We have faith in the judiciary and media, and do hope that a fair and far-reaching judgment on NEET would be delivered fast. The aspiring students need to know for which exam they have to prepare this year. We have miles to go before accomplishing ‘Vision 2015’, and NEET is the first and essential step.

DECCAN HERALD REPORT

Abolition of NEET: Giving legal sanction to colleges of scandal

When a national television channel telecast a sting operation last month revealing the auction of undergraduate and post graduate seats in three private medical colleges, one heaved a sigh of relief that public awareness and activism were still alive in this country.

 The sigh turned into a moan when the highest court in the land passed a startling judgment shortly afterwards giving such colleges legal sanction to continue their illicit activities.

 The three judge Supreme Court verdict banning the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET) from admitting students to the 345 medical/ dental colleges in the country from the academic year 2014 has ensured that 45,000 substandard doctors and dentists will be unleashed in India’s hospitals in the next five years. 

The judgment was in response to 115 petitions from private managements whose business interests were hit when the Medical Council of India rightly ruled that all medical and dental seats should be filled only on the basis of a single entrance examination hereafter. 

The apex court ruled that the MCI order was constitutionally invalid -- which still does not make it academically or democratically unsound. 

In a country which needs more than a million doctors still to fill its primary health care centres that cater to the poorest patients, it is suicidal to unleash under qualified medical personnel on an unsuspecting public which already suffers a serious shortage of doctors in rural areas where 80 per cent of the population resides. The dissenting voice of one judge confirms that there is still hope for health care and its inputs to be restored to their proper place.

It is no secret that the present state of medical education in the country is in a shambles. Not only is it ridden with insurmountable problems like innumerable entrance tests which make students run from college to college seeking admissions; but it has no guarantee that the most deserving alone will gain entry into medical colleges. If they do, the best among them leave the country in search of greener pastures abroad, as working conditions in hospitals here are deplorable. 

Among those who stay back, few will want to serve in rural areas and hospitals where living conditions do not make it conducive to work. As for the institutions themselves, it goes without saying that ill equipped private colleges can only turn out ill equipped doctors and dentists. Their ‘private practice’ will be a poor substitute for conducting proper medical duties. As for the few autonomous medical schools in the country which are well ordered and train their students to perfection, they would prefer the doctors whom they trained at great cost to work in their own hospitals when they graduate, and rightly so. 

Poorly equipped medical colleges

State medical colleges which admit students through the common entrance test in each state are themselves poorly equipped and managed as they are completely controlled by the state governments. Nepotism, corruption and political interference plague these institutions. Their teaching hospitals, though rich in patient strength, reek of unsightly filth and mismanagement. Lastly, the ugly face of the capitation fee culture looms large over private medical education which has mushroomed in uncontrollable numbers in many states. Financially crippled students, however deserving they may be, cannot gain entry into these institutions which are managed by private trusts, business houses and politicians in power. 

In this ugly scenario, neither the student nor the patient stands to gain. The only beneficiary is the politically influential, socially irresponsible business magnate --read ‘educationist’ — who gains by ‘launching’ such unviable medical colleges for ineligible students.

In the light of these severe drawbacks in the field of medical education, the single National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) proposed by the Medical Council of India was a boon. It was too good to be true. It may have had certain constitutional limitations. Or, lacked proper examining criteria. It may have been too theoretical and lacked practical inputs. Yet, none of these justified its total abolition. Its weaknesses, if any, could easily be corrected. Its legal aspects amended. 

If the MCI guidelines did not permit it to conduct entrance examinations through the CBSE or otherwise, those guidelines could be suitably revised. Instead of being a mere regulatory body, it could be made the authority for regularising and planning the mechanics of admission to undergraduate and post graduate courses in medical colleges. As for the test itself, as pointed out by the Director of the Christian Medical Hospital in Vellore, it could be revised so that greater attention is paid to practical work and bedside skills – two very important qualifications for doctors. 

These are details that can be put in place instead of totally scrapping the NEET itself -- which would be like throwing away the baby with the bath water! The dissenting judge in the case rightly said: “Holding the NEET is legal, practical and the need of society.” If a single test can enable 300,000 high school leavers to compete for admission to 45,000 seats with no other strings attached, what better options for medical education? The apex court must take another long look at this aspect.

Steps sought to solve acute dearth of specialist doctors

Citing an urgent need to tackle the acute dearth of specialised doctors owing to inadequate PG seats, a campaign called ‘Save doctors who save your lives’ will be launched by medical practitioners across the state soon, as part of a nation wide campaign. The campaign says that an increase in the number of specialised doctors is the need of the hour as an MBBS doctor cannot treat non-communicable diseases (NCD) including those contributing to Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR).

“Treating NCDs is a gargantuan task and is going to be the major challenge in the days to come. To name a few, the top ten causes of death in India include cardiac diseases, diarrhoeal disease, chronic respiratory diseases and stroke. Nine out of those ten require specialist doctors. Unfortunately, we do not have enough specialised doctors due to inadequate number of PG seats in medical institutions”, said Dr Prem Kumar Nair, medical director, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, who heads the campaign in Kerala.

He pointed out that it is ironic that there exist a huge disparity in the seats allotted for PG and UG in a country which has the largest number of medical institutions.

“The mandatory rural posting also affects them as they end up spending 13 years only for studying. If this trend persists the risk will increase as there will be a dearth of specialists when a senior specialist doctors or surgeons retire”, he said. Dr Prem Kumar said that the government can solve the issue by adding more number of PG seats in the hospitals.

“For instance, the number of students under each professor or associate professor has to be increased. If they are currently handling one, it has to be increased to five”, he said.  Approximately 15 to 20 per cent of pregnancies end up requiring Caesarian section and if not managed well, the repercussion will be a high MMR. Caesarian sections need a radiologist to perform ultrasound scan to predict complications during childbirth, an anaesthesiologist to anaesthetize the pregnant woman, a gynaecologist to conduct the operation and a paediatrician to resuscitate the baby. A doctor with MBBS degree can attend to a normal delivery but a doctor with post graduation degree can reduce Infant Mortality Rate and MMR.

Dr Prem also said that owing to the dearth of specialists in rural areas, the infant mortality rate and MMR are high.

Besides, by increasing the number of post graduation seats, ‘brain drain’ will also come down drastically. “Many are opting for foreign countries as they could not secure PG seats. Increasing PG seats will be the right solution in this regard”, he added.

Medical students gather in Mumbai pleading health ministry to equalize UG and PG seats

Medical students gather in Mumbai pleading health ministry to equalize UG and PG seats

MUMBAI: Over 300 medical students gathered at Indian Medical Association House (IMA) last week to once again plead to the Union Health Ministry to equalize Under Graduation (UG) and Post Graduation (PG) medical seats. The movement by the medical students called 'Save the Doctor' also took place in other cities like Bangalore, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Mysore, Guwahati and Hisar, on the same day. Dressed in their regular lab coats along with a black ribbon, the students made their hand impression on a large piece of canvas as a symbolic gesture to articulate the lack of specialist doctors in the country. The students also wrote their message "Save the Doctors" on the floor lit each alphabet was lit with candles.

Commenting about the movement, Dr. Naresh Trehan, CMD, Medanta said "I am quite concerned about the present state of affairs for the medical students in our country. We are all aware that the number of students graduating and the number of PG seats available are not equal. Students are struggling to get a PG seat today. We should take measures to change the system as soon as possible, as we need more specialists in the country." He also added, "If one notices, many a times, getting an appointment from a specialist, be it a gynecologist, orthopedic, etc is increasingly becoming an issue. The reason is because to serve the healthcare needs of a billion plus people, the number of specialists available is simple not enough. We have written to the ministry and authorities and we have received favorable response and we are hopeful there will soon be solutions."

The top ten causes of death in India include diseases of the heart, diarrheal disease, chronic respiratory diseases and strokes, to name a few. Nine out of the ten require specialist doctors to treat them. Today, India lacks specialist doctors due to inadequate number of PG seats in medical institutions. Though the country has the largest number of medical institutions, the disparity in the number of seats allotted for PG and UG students along with the mandatory rural posting are affecting young doctors, as they end up spending 13 years merely studying. This also means that the future of our healthcare system is at a huge risk if the current scenario continues. As senior specialist doctors/ surgeons retire in the future, there will be a dearth of specialist doctors and surgeons in India. Pursuing a Post Graduation in any stream of medicine is essential for a doctor to become a specialist such as Gynecologist, Neurologist, Surgeon, Radiologist etc.

Dr. Narendra Saini, Secretary General, IMA, said, "The young doctors of India are losing their productive years in studying to get a PG seat. There is a dearth of specialists in the country and limited PG seats will gravely affect the number of specialist doctors, available in the coming years. He further added, "'Save the Doctor' movement is a step to resolve the problem and we need the support of the nation."

There are 47,600 UG seats which is likely to reach 50,000 shortly due to the progressive steps taken by the MCI. Whereas, there are only 12,000 PG seats in clinical disciplines! In comparison, in a developed country such as the USA, there are 19,000 UG seats and 32,000 PG and fellowship seats. With a pass rate of 80% to 90%, nearly 40,000 doctors graduate every year and compete for the 12,000 clinical seats with their batch mates and over a lakh seniors. In the last PG entrance exam under NEET, over 90,000 doctors appeared for the test to claim one of the 12,000 seats. Adding to this, the one year compulsory rural posting as a pre-requisite to apply for PG course has worsened the situation.

Central Zone Executive of 'Save the Doctor' movement, Dr. Suranjana Basak, said, "The gathering we had today across India is just our humble appeal to make our voice heard. We want the leaders to take action and save the future."


Lakhs of young pregnant women who die during delivery is a testimony to show how lack of PG seats is taking away precious lives due to dearth in gynecologists. There are 28 million babies born every year in India, which means at least 28 million deliveries need to be handled annually. ""To perform this number the country requires that many gynecologists. Unfortunately we have only 40,000 practicing gynecologists and most of them are practicing mainly in cities. Our government is spending lakhs of rupees to reduce Maternity Mortality Rate without great success. What people and policy makers fail to realize is that it's not due to lack of money that young pregnant women are dying, but because the country does not have enough qualified gynecologists and pediatricians to take care of the mother and baby"", voiced Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, Treasurer, AHPI.

REPORT IN PUNE MIRROR TODAY

Rural stint conditional for MD-

Diploma certificate

A plethora of problems plagues medical care in rural areas of the state; not least on the list is a lack of doctors. Most doctors who sign up for work in state-run hospitals invariably quit, frustrated by poor working conditions and facilities.

 

The government, though, is taking iron-clad action. Earlier this week, it sacked 43 doctors who refused to show up for work, as reported by Mirror on Saturday.

Now, the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) had made it mandatory for Doctor of Medicine-Diploma (MD-Diploma) students to complete a one-year stint in rural areas before pursuing higher education.

Until now, students were allowed to serve out their bond — pledging that they would work in rural areas for a year — after completing higher studies. 

But a circular issued by the DMER on August 6, puts an end to this practice. About 230 students would be affected, more so as the order comes after several students had appeared for entrance exams to higher education courses.

“Earlier, thanks to a court order which stated that no one could stop students from pursuing their education, students used to return later and serve out their one-year bond,”  said Dr Santosh Wakchaure, president, Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors.

 

“Now, diploma students cannot secure admission for higher education unless they complete their one-year stint in a rural area. The DMER issued this order after social activist, Pournima Upadhay, filed a PIL against the lack of doctors in rural areas.”

Dr Pravin Shingare, director of DMER, claimed that the decision also stemmed from the fact that many students did not turn up to execute their bond. “Previously, they would sign an affidavit stating that they would return to serve out their bond after completing their education.” 

But most students did not come back which is one of the reasons for this circular. We have also started imposing a penalty on them.”

MD-Diploma students are livid, claiming that instead of  the DMER going after the few black sheep, it is punishing them all. Moreover, they say, it points to a failure on the part of the government to enforce the affidavit.

“The government took the affidavit lightly,” said a student from BJ Medical College. “Why don’t they punish the students who signed the affidavit, but did not show up for work? We are willing to serve out the bond, but we want to finish our education first in one go.”

Students fear that they would lose touch if they were to break their studies for a year. "How can one study for a competitive exam while working in a rural area?” wondered the student. 

“Most of us have appeared for Diplomate of National Board (DNB) exams and are awaiting our results. We now have to go for counselling, but DMER is not releasing our certificates. Had they told us earlier, we would have sat for the exams in the first place.”

Another student from BJMC said, "This circular has been issued only in Maharashtra. Instead of asking us to serve in rural areas, the government should instead appoint those who have completed their MBBS. 

This would not only serve the government’s purpose, but it would help rural folk too as a patient who requires a super-specialist would have access to one. Now they are simply referred to a district hospital. Why don’t they properly utilise the skills of these super-specialists?"