Special bond service for Dental Surgery students: Only three students eligible

As Maharashtra Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) started a one-year special bond service for the Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) students, across the state, only three students have been eligible for the bond. While the DMER was planning to add helping hands at rural colleges by starting the bond, the students, will now get a choice to handpick from 10 vacancies while seven others will remain vacant for over a year.

While the results of PDG-CET were announced on February 23, posts for Assistant Professor/ Dental surgeon in Government/ corporation dental colleges and hospitals as well as medical colleges were opened for the bond service. However, as the DMER had decided to fill the posts on merit basis, not much choice was available for the authorities. "Candidates will be allotted seats as per subject merit & place of performance for posts of Assistant Professor /Dental Surgeon," said the instruction to the candidates column of DMER.

While DMER was to appoint the Assistant Professors at the salary of Rs.15600-39100 with a Grade Pay Rs.6000, Dental Surgeons were offered Rs.15600-39100 with a Grade Pay Rs 5400. While at Government dental College and Hospital of Mumbai there are a total of eight vacancies, including two for Prosthetic Dentistry, one each for Periodontal as well as Pedodontia, three for Community Dentistry for the Assistant Professors, one vacancy for Dental Surgeon was available. At the same time, Government Dental College & Hospital of Aurangabad was looking forward to fill, two posts, one for Operative Dentistry as well as Oral Diagnosis and Radiology.

However, while DMER, in process to create a merit list, and planning a huge response to their first year of bond service by students got a shock of their lives to see that only three students, Swapnil Sidam (325/600), Vikas Bajaj (340/600) and Nilesh Jadhav (331/600) managed to crack the merit list. While Sidam appeared for Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Sidam and Bajaj were the students of Prosthodontics.

Now the students have got the upper hand as they will get to handpick the colleges and don't have to undergo any more filtration, as there is no competition. Dr Suhasini Nagda, medical education director, civic hospitals and dean of Nair Dental College said that while the idea of starting bond service was to get helping hands to teach the students as well as during surgery, there will be definitely more students coming in July. "The issue has happened due to less number of students appearing for the exams. More than 75-80 students will probably be in the merit list of June and again the bond vacancies will be opened. Most of the time we have way more vacancies that the students," said Nagda.