NEW DELHI: How does a candidate for DNB (a postgraduate medical diploma) ranked round 34,600 within the entrance examination get allotted a high-demand specialty like radio analysis in a extremely regarded establishment? How does one ranked round 15,000 get into an establishment which often will get stuffed round rank 5,000? It is thru an opaque course of the place candidates allotted to establishments that lose accreditation are ‘relocated’ to these the place seats are nonetheless vacant. Candidates have accused the National Board of Examination (NBE) of facilitating such ‘back-door entry’ for choose candidates.
Every yr, the NBE, which regulates postgraduate programs in varied medical specialties, largely in non-public hospitals, allots candidates to hospitals in accordance to their choice and rating within the entrance examination. However, the board usually withdraws accreditation of whole hospitals or of seats in just a few specialties after allotment, leaving lots of of college students within the lurch. In most such instances, complaints concerning the hospitals that lose accreditation would have been made months and even years again, however NBE not solely contains the seats in these hospitals within the counselling course of, it even allots college students to them solely to later cancel accreditation.
Take the case of two college students ranked within the vary of 35,000 and allotted transfusion drugs in Nayati hospital in Mathura. The accreditation for Nayati was later cancelled and so they had been relocated to different hospitals for specialities like radio analysis and ophthalmology, each way more wanted. “How did they get to change their specialty? How come the seats they got had been by no means brazenly out there for the mop-up counselling? There is zero transparency on how relocation is finished and nothing is put within the public area,” stated a candidate nonetheless awaiting relocation months after accreditation was cancelled.
The roulette of relocation can even work in opposition to you. In one such case, a candidate with rank round 15,000 was allotted common drugs in Amaltas Medical College in MP in August final yr. On November 6, NBE withdrew accreditation and provided a common drugs seat in a 200-bed hospital in Hyderabad. “I had chosen a medical school as a result of in accordance to the rules, if I do DNB from a medical school or a hospital with over 500 beds, I don’t want to do an additional yr of senior residency to have equivalence with MD/MS. Now, I’m being allotted to a 200-bed hospital, which suggests I’ll have to do an additional yr. I’ve filed a case, however it’s a monetary loss to combat a case and psychological harassment on prime of it,” stated the candidate.
Candidates from an earlier batch allotted to Amaltas had complained to NBE concerning the establishment over a yr again. Yet, NBE included Amaltas’ seats within the 2020 counselling with no indication of the complaints or that it was underneath the scanner and allotted college students there, after which went on to cancel its accreditation.
In one other case, a pupil with rank round 16,500 was allotted emergency drugs in Columbia Asia Hospital in Bengaluru. The candidate had chosen Bengaluru as her husband was working within the metropolis. She joined the hospital on August 26. The NBE performed an inspection on September 10 and the accreditation for emergency drugs seats was cancelled by October finish. “I used to be provided a seat in a 200-bed hospital in Ahmedabad and one other in Delhi which had been on the degree of rank 22,000 or much less. I used to be additionally informed that if I didn’t be a part of the allotted seat I might be debarred from DNB for 3 years,” she stated.
Every yr, accreditation of seats in over a dozen hospitals is withdrawn as a result of they fail to keep tutorial requirements or to pay common stipend. In 2020, as an illustration, about 100 college students had to be relocated as accreditation for all DNB programs in hospitals like Aditya Birla Hospital in Pune, Nayati, Amaltas and CMRI, Kolkata, had been shut down, whereas accreditation to particular programs in hospitals like Columbia Asia and Global Hospital, Pune was withdrawn.
“NBE doesn’t put out inspection experiences of hospitals. There’s no public file of complaints obtained in opposition to hospitals and no date of accreditation. Why is NBE not taking accountability for accrediting substandard establishments?” requested a former workplace bearer of the Association of DNB Doctors. NBE didn’t reply to TOI’s queries regardless of a number of reminders.
