There were zero admissions for the post graduate (PG) medical pre-clinical courses in Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre (VIMS), Bengaluru, including in anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, forensic medicine, microbiology and pharmacology, till the second round of PG-NEET counselling.
The institute then informed the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), the counselling authority in the State, that it would waive the tuition fees for candidates opting for these courses, after which, all the pharmacology seats were filled during the subsequent round of counselling, said Kalpaja D.A., Chairperson of the Institute.
This is the situation of PG medical pre-clinical courses in Karnataka, as candidates are hesitant to take them up due to a lack of job opportunities. Even in government medical colleges, only 15% to 20% of the seats in these courses are filled. The situation is far worse in private medical colleges, which have resorted to fee reduction, free hostel facility, stipend as per government guidelines, and job guarantee with good salary as promises to attract students towards pre-clinical and para-clinical courses.
Like VIMS, Oxford Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre has also waived the tuition fees, while BGS Institute of Medical Sciences has promised jobs to candidates immediately after completing the courses.
“For PG medical courses, students like to join clinical courses due to job prospects. As a result, despite measures such as fee reduction, free hostel facility and stipend, the enrollment has been poor. It is very difficult to find candidates for courses like anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, forensic medicine, and microbiology. Therefore, many seats in PG medical courses have remained vacant this year as well. The KEA has announced it will conduct a special stray vacancy round for the second time. We hope all the vacant seats will be filled,” Kalpaja explained.
“This time, several private medical colleges have announced many facilities, including fee reduction and free hostel facility and others to attract students towards pre-clinical and para-clinical courses. There is no other way to attract students,” said M.K. Ramesh, former Vice Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS).
Extent of vacancies
A large number of postgraduate medical seats remained vacant in the State this year due to the lack of students opting for pre-clinical courses. A total of 3,864 postgraduate medical seats were available in the State for 2024-25. Out of these, 3,379 seats have been filled, and 485 seats remain vacant. Out of these, 471 are PG medical courses, while the remaining 14 are Diplomate of National Board (DNB) courses for in-service doctors.
Among these, most of the seats filled are in clinical courses, while most of the vacant seats are in pre-clinical courses.
Out of the total 104 seats available in the MD Anatomy course this year, only six seats have been filled, leaving 98 seats vacant; of the 97 seats in the Physiology, 10 have been filled, leaving 87 vacant. Out of the 99 Biochemistry slots, 12 seats have been filled, and 87 remain vacant. Out of the 114 seats in Pharmacology, only 46 seats have been filled, leaving 68 seats vacant.
Further, out of the 116 seats in Microbiology, 48 have been filled, and 68 are vacant, and of 58 seats in Forensic Medicine, only 10 have been filled and 48 remain vacant.
On the other hand, almost all the seats in other clinical courses, including MD General Medicine, Radiotherapy, Dermatology, Psychiatry, General Surgeon have been filled.
The statistics of the KEA show students have been showing apathy towards clinical courses even in the past. In 2023-24, only two students were enrolled in the MD Anatomy course across the State. There were 12 students enrolled in Physiology, 7 in Biochemistry, 29 in Pharmacology, 15 in Microbiology, and 22 in Forensic Medicine.
In 2022-23, only one student was enrolled in MD Anatomy, and no student enrolled in Physiology, leaving all the seats vacant. Only two students were enrolled in Biochemistry, 20 in Pharmacology, 8 in Microbiology, and two in Forensic Medicine.
Counselling for the fifth time
KEA is the counselling authority to fill the PG medical seats of the state on the basis of PGNEET ranking. This year, a large number of PG medical seats, including clinical, pre-clinical and para-clinical, remained vacant in Karnataka and the country after the mop-up round.
Therefore, the NMC reduced the PGNEET cut-off percentage to 15% and allotted seats in the stray vacancy round. However, in this round too, more than 600 PG medical seats remained vacant in Karnataka. In this context, the NMC has again reduced the NEET cut-off percentage to 5% and has ordered to conduct the ‘Special Stay Vacancy Round’ counselling for the fifth time to allocate the remaining PG medical seats.
“This year, the pre-clinical seats are the largest number of unfilled seats among PG medical courses, and the NMC has reduced the PGNEET cut-off percentage and has asked us to conduct another round of counselling to allocate the seats. It has been four months since the PGNEET counselling started, and now the NMC has reduced the cut-off percentage to 5%. Earlier, the NMC had reduced the cut-off percentage to zero. If the PGNEET cut-off percentage had been reduced to 5% earlier, it would have been more beneficial for the candidates, and more people would have opted for the courses. As soon as the NMC admission schedule is released, we will start option entry and allocate all these seats,” said Prasanna.H. Executive Director of KEA.
The reason behind
But will this be enough? “I have decided to study clinical courses in PG. I did not get any clinical course seat in the last four rounds of counselling due to my PGNEET ranking. Recently, the cut-off percentage for the special stray vacancy round has been reduced to 5%. So, there is a possibility of getting a seat. If I do not get a PG clinical course seat this time, I will write the PGNEET exam next year as well,” said Abhijit, a PG medical seat aspirant from Bengaluru.
Experts believe that candidates who have completed MBBS are hesitant to pursue pre-clinical courses in their postgraduate degrees due to a lack of future opportunities.
Students who have pursued these courses cannot do clinical practice. Instead, they will have to work in laboratories or diagnostic centres. However, laboratories and diagnostic centres are few in number, due to which there is a scarcity of jobs. On top of it, the salaries are also low, experts said, adding that huge capital is required to start diagnostic centres. The other option is to work as a faculty member. Meanwhile, candidates who have done clinical courses can work as doctors anywhere in the world.
Shortage of faculty
Pre-clinical courses such as anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, forensic medicine, and microbiology are the foundation for medical courses. But experts pointed out that due to the lack of students, there will be a shortage of teaching faculty to teach these courses in the future, which will also affect medical education.
“Students’ disinterest in pre-clinical courses will be the main reason for the shortage of faculty for these courses in the future. We have already heard that there is a shortage of faculty to teach pre-clinical courses in many states. There has been no discussion on this at the government level so far. However, this is a serious issue, and its pros and cons will be discussed at the government level,” said B.L. Sujatha Rathod, Director, Directorate of Medical Education, Karnataka.
Making them attractive
There is also a growing demand from stakeholders to make these courses more attractive with job availability, better wages and advanced technology.
“Clinical courses are not available to all candidates who have appeared for the PGNEET exam. Instead, a large number of pre-clinical courses are remaining vacant every year. If a job guarantee is given, students will be attracted towards these courses. Candidates of pre-clinical courses who are self-employed lack the basic capital to implement high technology. If the government helps in implementing advanced technology at a low cost, there will be more demand for these courses,” said Paramesh Doddamani, a parent.
“We have good salaries for doctors who have studied clinical courses. However, the salaries of those who have studied pre-clinical are low. Therefore, good salaries should be available to those who have studied these courses. In addition, the number of diagnostic centers should also increase. I hope that this will be achieved in the coming days,” said Kalpaja of VIMS.
Speaking to The Hindu, Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil said, “This is a cycle. Everyone loves clinical courses. This is a job market-driven issue, and only time can answer this. So, there may be a good demand for pre-clinical courses in the coming days. If the number of staff in these courses falls in the medical colleges, the demand for candidates for these courses will increase. There may be demand for these courses in the next couple of years.”
Published – March 07, 2025 07:21 am IST