Doctor

India has a shortage of 6 million doctors and according to the World Health Organization, there is one government doctor for every 10,189 people.  An issue relating to this alarming topic has been raised recently.

The Indian medical sector is facing the fretting situation, as out of 3,833 seats of medical super specialty nearly 700 seats remained vacant. This startling news has forced the government to slacken eligibility cut-off because these many super-specialty seats cannot go vacant. The first round of counseling under the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test revealed that one in every five super-specialty seats has remained vacant.

Following is the list of  most affected super-specialties:

Cardio-thoracic and vascular surgery (CTVS)

Number of vacant seats:130 out of 185 (i.e. 7 in every 10)
The percentile for eligibility reduced to 20 from 50
Pediatric surgery

111 out of 162 seats are vacant
The percentile for eligibility reduced to 20 from 50
Cardiology

The percentile for eligibility reduced to 20 from 50
Currently, there are around 30 medical super specialties. The percentile for all the 30 specialties are reduced to 40 from 50, except the three mentioned above in which it has reduced to 20. Thus, students who are willing to take part in the second round of NEET-super specialty counseling can be benefitted from these reduced cut-offs.

The Medical Council of India has started an investigation on why doctors are not interested in super-specialty courses like CTVS, cardiology, and pediatric surgery which are actually critical to the country’s future. However, many doctors have opted for gastroenterology, endocrinology, radiology, and surgical oncology where nearly all the seats have been occupied this year.

What can be the reason that the majority of seats of cardiology, pediatric surgery, and CTVS remained vacant? Is it because these streams are physically more demanding than some other streams?

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Source: The Times of India, Economic Times