Overview
To become a doctor in India one should have either a High Merit or Surplus Money. Globally, several students travel to different destinations to pursue their dreams and career. This migration usually occurs from the eastern part to the western part of the world due to better infrastructure of Universities, global exposure, and availability of specific specializations and career opportunities. If we discuss Medicine as a specialty, the reasons for migration from India to other countries are very distinct from English speaking countries and Europe.
In India getting an MBBS Seat in any of the Govt colleges is the most challenging task in the world. It is primarily due to the lack of Infrastructure and availability of faculties in Medical Colleges. The government has implemented many reforms in the Medical education sector such as relaxing the norms of opening new medical colleges and academic criteria to become a faculty in a Medical college to increase the MBBS seat availability, getting a MBBS seat is distant dreams for many.
As per government reports published on various platforms over a while, more than 40% of non-clinical and 65% of faculties in clinical subjects are not available in Medical colleges, which were opened recently in the last 5 years, leading to severe impacts on learning of the medical students. Hopes for getting an MBBS seat become leaner every passing year for the medical aspirants. In 2022 approx. 18,000 Indian students got enrolled in Medical Universities globally, which is more than 1/3rd of Pvt Med College Students.
India is facing continuous challenges in Medical education infrastructure for decades including the disconnect between education and health service delivery, the high cost of education, underutilization of existing resources, and the multiplicity of entrance examinations for medical seats, among others. Globally, there has been a constant drive for improving the doctor population ratio to ensure better access to healthcare services.
In 2022, more than 18.7 Lacs students appeared for India’s most prestigious Medical Entrance Exam NEET-UG to secure their MBBS Seat in 650 Govt and Private Medical colleges collectively Approx. 185 Medical colleges with 23000 Seats added in the last 5 years both in Govt and Private sectors. Despite these efforts, the chances of getting an MBBS Seat in India dropped from 6.68% to 5.29% in the last 5 years. This is because of the growing number of NEET UG aspirants and the slow-paced evolution of the medical education infrastructure, which can meet the growing demand for MBBS seats.