Postgraduate dentistry aspirants upset over delay in counselling

Four months after qualifying for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for postgraduate programmes in dentistry, candidates are nonetheless awaiting the counselling schedule.

With the Prime Minister saying that NEET PG for medical college students wouldn’t be introduced until August 31, the counselling for dentistry college students has additionally been indefinitely postponed.

The aspirants have approached all companies — from the National Board of Examinations to the Medical Counselling Committee and the Dental Council of India (DCI).

“We took NEET in December and the results were announced 20 days later on December 31. Postgraduate counselling should have been held in February,” stated Balasubramaniam Shankar, who stood third in the nation in NEET. Aspirants have since sought data on delay in counselling via the Right to Information Act however in useless.

A dentist from Rajapalayam stated: “It has been announced that students will get a month to prepare after the notification for NEET PG (for MBBS students). If one more month gets added then it could be November or December before we join the courses. The counselling will begin may be a month later. By then we would have wasted a year of our career. There are many students who have dropped a couple of years to pursues postgraduate studies. The delay hurts them the most.”

With dentists suggested to not take up procedures they’ve been denied employment avenues too. “Private clinics have not appointed fresh graduates as they cannot afford to pay them with no patients coming in. I am in a rural area where consultants, who are generally MDS graduates, come from urban areas once or twice a week to attend to patients. Since the consultants are not coming, all treatments have been cancelled. Only basic emergency and pain relief treatment is provided,” he stated.

Dr. Balasubramaniam stated, “Even if the software is common, how is it going to affect our admissions? There would be an option in the software where we should be able to select either for MDS or for MD/MS.”

State topper P. Menakhasundhari stated she had contacted the Indian Dental Association State chapter officers requesting their intervention. “Counselling has to be conducted by March and there is no issue as counselling is an online process. The delay in conducting NEET PG has been announced. Give us a timeline for MDS counselling.”

She stated in every State college students had approached the respective IDA chapters hoping for reduction. A member of the DCI, Anil Kumar Chadna stated counselling was not underneath its purview. When identified that the DCI may take up the scholars’ considerations with the MCC, he stated the difficulty can be mentioned in the council’s subsequent assembly. On the schedule of the assembly he stated, a call in that regard can be taken in just a few days. The council would determine on writing to the counselling authorities in regards to the college students’ worries, he added.