Medical college in India: Difference between revisions

For introductory information about medical schools and information about medical schools in other countries see: Medical school.

In India, the term medical college refers to a special educational institution that provides medical education. This term refers to a separate college, affiliated to a university and in some cases, there are separate Medical Universities. Specifically, they are involved in the education of future medical practitioners.

Recognition

Indian law requires these type of institutions to be recognized by the Medical Council of India.^[1] The Indian government keeps an updated list of these approved medical colleges.^[2]

Administration

A medical college in India is owned, funded and administered by one of the three three following sources. Each type has distinct admission processes.

1. The Government of India
2. State Governments
3. Private Organisations

Eligibility

Undergraduate Courses

The eligibility for Undergraduate Course towards a Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) is that one should have completed his higher secondary school leaving examination (10+2) with Science as the stream including the subjects Biology,Chemistry and Physics.

Postgraduate Courses

The eligibility for Postgraduate Course is that one should have completed his MBBS.

Admission Process

Undergraduate Course

Direct admission of international students to Engineering Medical (MBBS), Dental ( BDS ) or any other medical course offered by public medical institutions is not possible. For students from developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, where facilities for medical education are either inadequate or not available at all, a limited number of seats are reserved in the MBBS, BDS courses. The exact number and country-based allocation of these reserved seats vary annually. Students seeking admission against the reserved seats are required to submit their applications through the Indian missions abroad or through the diplomatic missions of the respective countries in India. For more information, the students can contact the Indian Embassy or the Indian High Commission in their country. The last date of submission of application is usually the 28th February of the corresponding year. An international student must have completed 12 years of schooling. International students studying in schools in India, can submit their applications pending the declaration of their Higher Secondary (10+2) or equivalent examination results. The marks sheet of the examination should however, be sent within 10 days from the declaration of the result to the: Students Cell, Room No. 1009, Ministry of External Affairs. Akbar Bhavan. New DelhiInternational students can seek university admission to undergraduate courses in Engineering , Medicine (MBBS) and Dentistry (BDS) in private colleges. Number of Nri / Pio /Foreign quota is limited rest of the seats will be filled by various entrance exams

• Medical Entrance Test in India

Postgraduate Course

Courses Offered

A Medical College offers the basic Under graduate course MBBS or M.B.B.S. In fact the institution gets its name as a Medical College, only if MBBS is taught there. In Addition the college may teach Post Graduate Courses as well as Paramedical Courses

Under Graduate Course

The undergraduate , The basic course offered is MBBS You enter here after your School (School in India is 14 year. 2 Year Kinder Garden. You enter Standard 1 after completion of 5 years and study till 12th. After 12th you enter college - whether it is engineering or arts or law or commerce or medical). In MBBS course basics of all clinical, non clinical and para clinical subjects are taught. Special impetus is given on clinical methods, in diagnosing the disease. Students are taught to take a detailed and streamlined history followed by clinical examination to diagnose diseases. Lab tests are just for confirmations and only when very essential. In western countries, clinicians rely more on lab tests, while Indian clinicians rely more upon the clinical methods using lab tests only for confirmation of their provisional diagnosis (suspected disease).

Post graduate Courses Offered

Often the colleges also teach Post graduate Diploma or Degree course. Degree courses are called MD (Doctor of Medicine) or MS (Master of Surgery) courses. They are available in different streams of medical science viz. Orthopaedics, General Medicine, General Surgery, Obs & Gynec, Radio-diagnosis, Radiotherapy, ENT, Ophthalmology, Anaesthesia, Peadiatrics, Community Medicne, Chest Medicine, Pathology, Microbiology, Forensic Medicine, Pharmacology, Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Bio Physics etc. Degree courses are of 3 years duration while diploma courses are of 2 years duration. After doing MD (usually in General Medicine) or MS (usually in General Surgery) or as eligibility requirements are, one can go for super specialisation courses called DM (Doctor of Medicine) or MCh (Master of Chirurgiae/Surgery) again of 3 years duration, in fields like Cardilogy, Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Urology, Nephrology, Neonatology, Gastoentrology, Gastrointestinal Surgery, Neuroradilogy, Paediatric Surgery, Plastic Surgery etc.

Paramedical Courses

The paramedical courses include

1. B.Sc Nursing
2. B.Sc Medical Lab Technology
3. B.PHARM
4. B.Pt (Physiotherapy)

and many more.

Duration of MBBS

The duration of MBBS is five and half years. Of these four and half years are spend and learning and the final one year is spent as an intern

I MBBS

Where you read Anatomy , Physiology and Biochemistry for one year. This course was formerly, ie till the 1997 batch of Indian medicos, one for one and a half years, thereafter it took its one year form. The corresponding syllabi reduction is considered by many to be lacking. This lack of time coupled with the difficulty in learning subjects like Anatomy, makes the 1st MBBS one of the hardest exams to pass in your medical career, considered by many to be second only the final year (III MBBS PART 2) exams, à regarde Undergraduate universities. Passing the exam is mandatory to proceed with the course.

In the event of failing your 1st MBBS exam, unlike other semesters and years when you are allowed to carry on with your education giving you time to clear the exams along with your further studies, you will be detained until you clear you 1st MBBS subjects and be placed in what is called an "Additional Batch". The Additional Batch is never reunited with the original batch and for the remaining tenure, of nearly 4 and a half years, the failed students end up being isolated from their batch and carry a personal stigma. This is considered a major drawback of the Indian medical education system. The Indian Medical Education system is different from the ones in the United States and many other countries in the fact that there are no premedical subjects (like Biology, Chemistry etc.) in the first year of Medical Uni and students are instead directly introduced to the basic medical subjects. This is enabled by India's Higher Secondary School Exam which is mandatory for admission to a Medical University. The Higher Secondary School Syllabi in India are considered to be one of the hardest and most advanced in the world.

II MBBS

You read Pathology , Pharmacology , Microbiology and Forensic Medicine for one and half years. After clearing all this 4 subjects you go to III MBBS. The lecture classes of these subjects will be in the afternoon. In the morning you will be attending Medicine Surgery and other wards

III MBBS or Final MBBS - Part I

One Year You read Social and Preventive Medicine(Community Medicine), ENT and Ophthalmology and pass that' The lecture classes of these subjects will be in the afternoon. In the morning you will be attending Medicine Surgery and other wards ENT and Ophthalmology Wards will also be in the morning

III MBBS or Final MBBS - Part II

One Year Theory and Ward teaching on Medicine , Surgery , Orthopaedics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Paediatrics. On passing the final MBBS examination, one is awarded temporary license by MCI or state medical council and one can start with the internship. Permanent license to practice is given only after successful completion of Compulsary Rotatory Internship.

Internship

After successful completion of 4 and a half year MBBS course one has to compulsarily work in the hospital attached to the medical college for one year. This posting is called Compusary Rotatory Residential Internship. The student gets the degree only after completion of the Compulsary Rotatory Residential Internship. An intern is posted in all the clinical departments of the hospital on rotation basis. This imparts him the basic clinical and practical knowledge about all the disciplines of medicine and makes the medical graduate fit to work in community as a General Physician. The person is licenced to practice medicine only after completion of internship. And only after finishing internship one can pursue Post Graduation studies.

Post Graduate Courses

Degrees

• M.D. (General Medicine)
• M.D. (Pediatrics)
• M.D. (Anesthesia)
• M.D. (Tuberculosis & Chest diseases)
• M.D. (Radio Diagnosis)
• M.D. (Dermatology, Veneriology and leprosy)
• M.D. (Psychiatry)
• M.D. (Radio Therapy)
• M.S. (General Surgery)
• M.S. (Orthopaedics)
• M.S. (Optholmology)
• M.S. (OtoRhinoLaryngiology or ENT)
• M.D. (Obsterics and Gynecology)
• M.D. (Anatomy)
• M.D. (Physiology.)
• M.D. (Biochemistry.)
• M.D. (Pathology)
• M.D. (MicroBiology)
• M.D. (Pharmacology)
• M.D. (Forensic Medicine)
• M.D. (Social and preventive Medicine)

Diplomas

• DCH
• DA
• DTCD
• DDVL
• DPM
• DGO
• DO
• DLO
• D Ortho
• DCP
• DPH

Ranking of Medical Colleges

Medical colleges in India are ranked depending on the following criterion:

• Medical Colleges of the Central Government are ranked above Medical Colleges of the State Government
• Older medical colleges are ranked higher than newer colleges
• Government colleges are universally ranked higher than private colleges
• Except for a few Central government colleges like AIIMS and AFMC, most other Government Medical colleges have comparable degree of faculty, excellent student quality and very good clinical exposure for the students (as all are attached to Government Hospitals which offer free treatment and thus attract huge number of patients). Thus most of them would be on par academically. Some of the colleges may however lack the latest diagnostic machines such as MRIs, CT scans, etc which are essential espacially from a Post Graduate point of view.
• Private colleges generally suffer from poor quality and low quantity of faculty, poor infrastructure and facilities (despite being private institutes), lower student quality, lesser clinical opportunity and exposure (because being a charging hospital that chases away a large chunk of patients) thus generally resulting in overall a lower academic level and quality. They often resort to 'faculty on paper' when MCI visit is scheduled. Even MCI knows it;its an open secret.

As per the current situation (2006), the ranking of the Medical Colleges in India (for MBBS training) are as follows (though other surveys may give other ranks): 1. All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi (Central Govt.) 2. Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune (Ministry of Defence) 3. JIPMER (Central Govt.) 4. Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad, India. 5. Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), Delhi (State Govt.) 6. Banares Hindu University (Govt.) 7. Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore (Minority, Christians preferred - Pvt) 8. All MCI recognised State Government Medical Colleges 9. Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore and Manipal (Another paper tiger-Pvt.) 10. Other private medical colleges List

For Post Graduate Studies, the ranking is as follows: 1. All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi 2. Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER or popularly PGI), Chandigarh 3. JIPMER 4. Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune 5. Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), Delhi 6. Banares Hindu University 7. Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore 8. All MCI recognised State Government Medical Colleges 9. Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore and Manipal 10.Other private medical colleges

• For Post Graduate training in case of All MCI recognised State Government Medical Colleges, the medical colleges situated in North India (espacially Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Bombay, etc) are generally preferred over the colleges in South India mainly because of greater clinical oppurtunities because of lower number of competing private medical colleges in the North vis-a-vis the South.

Para medical Courses

• optometery 2 year diploma

References

See also

• Medical school
• Medical education

External links

• Nopany Institute of Healthcare Studies
• Medical Colleges approved by the Indian government
• Medical Education in India
• Medical Colleges in India List