30,000 dentistry grads across India wasted over red-tape

The doctors say their services could be used in the pandemic, but they are just sitting around doing nothing. Representation pic/Ashish Raje

Around 30,000 aspiring PG (Post Graduation) dentistry students across India, whose skill could be used in the pandemic to help treat patients, have been kept twiddling their thumbs at home due to red tape. This is because their admission process to the PG course has not started yet, though the results of the entrance exam were declared four months ago.

Why the delay

In a regular medicine course, a graduate doctor has to clear the National Entrance and Eligibility Test (NEET) for the PG course. For post-graduation in dentistry, he/she is required to clear the MDS exam. This exam is generally held a month or so before NEET PG, but the admission processes for both run simultaneously. This time the MDS exam was held in December 2020 and its results were declared by the end of that month. But the NEET PG is four months away and authorities are adamant on beginning the admission processes for both at the same time. Until that happens, neither can these graduate dentists assist in dental clinics, as they are asked for a commitment of two years; nor can they ask to join Covid-19 duty (in a PG course every student will have to be on Covid-19 duty at the hospital he/she is studying at, and so these students can't ask for it now).

"This is a grave waste of time for us and also for the health system, when our services can be used. Our seniors as well as juniors are helping in Covid-19 wards, but we are waiting aimlessly while unemployed," said Dr Yashchand Vaid, who completed his graduation from JSS Mysore.

He added, "We are already in the fifth month since the exam and result. The NEET PG is yet to be held. Tentatively, it is expected to be four months later. If we count the entire process of exam, result and admissions. We will have wasted almost one academic year waiting."

‘Nothing to do'

Adding to this, Dr Pratima Pandey, who graduated from Terna College, said, "I had taken a drop last year to study for a better score in the PG entrance. Like me, there are others who have taken multiple gap years for the same reason. This excruciating delay is hampering our plans. When we approach clinics for work, we are asked to give a commitment of at least two years which we cannot, as we will have to leave once admission is completed. We did not apply for Covid-19 duty, thinking that anyway after PG admissions we will be serving in that hospital's Covid-19 ward. Now we are sitting at home with nothing."

Dr Govind Bhatane, State Convenor Dental Wing, BJP Medical Cell, who has written to the central health minister regarding students' issues, said, "This is really a waste of time. Anyway, this process has to be held online, which will not flout any Covid-19 regulations either." He said there was no response to his letter dated May 5.