Punjab students don?t want to be doctors

Medical Science is losing its preferred place in Punjab, as number of students opting for this discipline has come down this year, according to the information collected by the Financial Express here on Wednesday.

The Punjab Medical Entrance Test (PMET) conducted on this Sunday is a clear evidence as only 7903 students took the examination. This is more than 20% less than the number of students who took the Medical Entrance Test last year. The Test was conducted by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences for Medical Colleges in Punjab.

Little doubt the Punjab Government has decided that students of medical colleges in the state will get 15% extra marks. The state wants to give preference to its own students in the Post-Graduate Medical Entrance Test (PMET).

The students will be getting extra marks for the test of post-graduate medical courses being conducted by Baba Farid Medical University. Students of Christian Medical and Dental College, Ludhiana, have, however, been exempted from the special privilege extended to students from other state colleges.

Vice-chancellor of Medical University Ravinder Singh said the decision to give extra marks to students who acquired degrees from state colleges had been taken by the government. He further said the quota for students coming from the Central quota had increased to 50% Minority institutions like CMC, Ludhiana, and SGPC colleges also preferred students from specific communities.

Paramjit Sharma of Ropar whose daughter Payal Sharma took the PMET, in Batch 2007 told FE that Punjab government’s fee structure for private medical colleges was responsible for sudden decline in the number of aspirants of MBBS students. In the first go, the government increased the fee by 15% which was acceptable to parents and students. But later Punjab government increased the fee structure by three times to Rs 3.00 lakhs in management quota.

The result of the decision was that PMET saw a sharp decline in number of students this year, Reputed schools like Sacred Heart School for girls saw only six students taking medical science in their Plus One class. The preferred category was non-medical and commerce disciplines.