00:00But let me bring that open to our panelists now, our doctors who are joining us.
00:04Dr. Ivanchi Kohl is from Safdarjung Hospital, Senior Resident, Department of Anesthesia, is joining us.
00:11Also with us is Dr. Rajeev Jayadevan.
00:15Dr. Rajeev, to you first, you just heard that young guy over there.
00:19So happy to hear students like that.
00:21But, you know, saying that make it tougher, but get the right kind of doctors into the system.
00:25What are your thoughts about the lowering of the percentile?
00:32First up, for our viewers, I'll say that zero does not mean zero marks.
00:39All right.
00:40I'll just explain how the marks are handled first in about 10 seconds.
00:46Let's say you're selecting for a sports team and you're selecting based on height.
00:51You've got people from height of 5 foot to 6 foot 3.
00:54So these are the candidates lined up and the average height is 5 foot 6.
00:59So as of now, people 5 foot 6 and higher are higher.
01:04But when the seats are vacant, they are saying that one way to do it is to bring it down a little bit.
01:10So 5 foot 4 also gets in, but they go through the same train.
01:13So that does not mean that people at the lowest level or let's say somebody who scores what's called zero marks are getting in.
01:21I know there are some nuanced exceptions here, but I'm talking about a general category here.
01:25So people should not be under the impression that doctors with zero scores are getting in.
01:29It is just that instead of those scoring...
01:31But the SCST, OBC reserved category, their minus 40 is a qualifier, right?
01:36I know.
01:37I'm aware of that.
01:37That's a different category.
01:38That topic is social justice, and we are not going to get into that right now.
01:43Let's just stick with the standard need guidelines now.
01:46So we can always argue two ways.
01:48One is, should we allow all these positions, seats to remain vacant in all these postgraduate training centers?
01:57Or should we have people sit on the seats and complete the education?
02:02We can have arguments back and forth for both sides.
02:06But I will tell you my view.
02:08I'll take you to my MBBS class.
02:10So in my MBBS class, if you look at all the marks that were given out, there were people who had all ranges of marks.
02:20But when I look at our class 35 years since our graduation, or 40 years since our graduation, I don't see a difference in the quality of doctors at all.
02:29They've all gone on to become excellent doctors in various forms.
02:33Some are doing medicine.
02:35I'm doing medicine.
02:36Others are surgeons.
02:37Others are teaching.
02:39Some are in general practice.
02:40Some are in pharmacology.
02:41Others are in community health, and so on.
02:44So when I look back, in fact, we joke about this, saying that marks really didn't matter.
02:48So I'm not saying marks don't matter.
02:50But here's an important distinction.
02:52Remember, MBBS requires passing 19 subjects.
02:56Thirdly knowledge of 19 subjects are tested, and then only you get the MBBS degree.
03:01And then you go through another exam, which is neat, the postgraduate entrance, and that is the person who walks into the postgraduate seat.
03:09Now, the postgraduate seat, for our viewers, I'll say, is there are some postgraduate seats that are very focused.
03:14Say, for example, if I want to teach anatomy, I would only look at anatomy, and it's very easy for me to focus on just one topic.
03:22Or if I wish to study ophthalmology, I can only look at ophthalmology.
03:26I get your point, Dr. Rajiv.
03:28I get where you're going with this.
03:30But the larger question is still, and we'll perhaps have the answer very soon, right?
03:35Today is when the phase three of counselling actually opens.
03:40That means by 26, 27 Jan, we should know how it's actually turned out.
03:44But Dr. Kahl is also with us.
03:45She doesn't exactly agree with you.
03:47Dr. Kahl, Avi, is this the right way to fill up those 18,000 vacancies, according to you?
03:53So, I'll count us, sir, on this fact that, as he said, that we study 19 subjects to pass MBBS.
04:01And of any person, any student, be it a general category or any result category, we study 19 subjects.
04:07And after five and a half years of rigorous training, he's not managing to score even the basic cut-off marks in a NEET-PG exam.
04:15It's not a basic entrance-level exam.
04:17You're training to become a specialist in a country, in a medical healthcare system.
04:22If after so much years or so many studies, so many subjects, if you cannot even manage to get that cut-off,
04:29and the cut-off has to be reduced to a mere minus 40 marks, then the whole point of reservation or even the whole education of MBBS is called killed.
04:39It's killed.
04:41You want to respond to that, Dr. Rajiv?
04:43I know, I get what the doctor is saying.
04:47But the point here is, when you are doing a postgraduate, you become very good at the subject you are focusing on.
04:55So, that does not necessarily require a very certain knowledge.
04:57But it's not just about becoming good at the subject, no, Dr. Rajiv?
05:00It's about sincerity as a student that you have.
05:03If you've not been sincere for your five years of MBBS, not to score a basic mark and a cut-off in your PG NEET,
05:10then what is the guarantee that the next two years that you're going to be sincere?
05:14I mean, that's the question that's before us.
05:17Yeah, I need to correct you there.
05:18This is not about sincerity.
05:20We are looking at people who have honorably passed the MBBS course through the rigorous curriculum
05:25and have gone through an exam, and we are debating the exact marks that should be the cut-off year.
05:32These are not failures.
05:33Then what is the point of the NEET exam then?
05:36Yeah, the NEET exam is a…
05:37Then tell me the point of the NEET PG exam.
05:39NEET PG exam is a gateway of entry into the postgraduate seat.
05:44See, if the candidate is not good, the candidate will not pass.
05:47All right?
05:48So, there is…
05:49But the gate is always open.
05:51If you're for a particular category and you are scoring even zero, the gate is constantly open.
05:56It's hardly a gateway anymore.
05:58That is not true.
05:59As well, it's not really…
06:00The score is not zero there.
06:01No, the score is not zero.
06:03There is a screening tool.
06:04And if your score is zero, you will not walk into that gate.
06:07You will not.
06:08What does that mean?
06:09Just explain that to me.
06:11And I know Dr. Kohl wants to come in.
06:12I'll let her explain that.
06:13Yeah.
06:14No, I mean, I agree with you, Sonal, because it's as good as not sitting in the exam.
06:20Okay.
06:21Dr. Raji, very quickly, I have last 30 seconds.
06:23What do you mean that zero is not enough?
06:24Yeah.
06:25Zero, as I mentioned at the beginning, if you arrange people according to their marks, zero means average mark.
06:32All right?
06:32So, we are saying, the new guidelines are saying you could score below average mark.
06:38It doesn't say zero mark there.
06:40And for the general category…
06:42Zero percentile minus 40, from what I know.
06:45Yeah.
06:45Percentile does not mean…
06:46Out of 800, correct?
06:47Yeah.
06:47Percentile does not mean zero.
06:48Can you tell me SCST or any reserve category over there?
06:52And this is not against reservation at all.
06:54It should not be perceived as that.
06:55I'm just saying, for a reservation student, what is the lowest benchmark required for PG, according to you?
07:02I am not aware of the…
07:04I am not updated with the SCST category.
07:07As I said, it is social justice.
07:08And I'm not going to comment on that.
07:09It requires a long discussion on SCST alone and not in 10 seconds.
07:14All right.
07:15Dr. Kohl, I'll give you the last word over there.
07:18I want to understand from you, since you are the younger of the lot, please, apologies for sort of mentioning that.
07:24But just because you're the younger of the lot and we've seen consistent dropouts in the NEAT-PG examination,
07:30I'm constantly going back to the same question.
07:32Why are there vacancies?
07:34A lot of people are saying that let's fill it through lower percentile, etc.
07:38I'm just asking, why are there no takers for NEAT-PG?
07:43See, the title of seats that are going vacant are mainly of the non-clinical branches
07:47and mainly of private colleges.
07:50Why this is happening?
07:51Because just increasing the number of seats is not enough.
07:54Most of the places, there is lack of infrastructure, lack of faculty.
07:58Maybe there is a bond.
07:59Maybe there is less stipend.
08:01So people, they are not keen to join on those places.
08:03Maybe they are located in peripheries.
08:06So students don't pick up those seats.
08:07And as the kid first from the quota said, that people want to go and for more clinical branches.
08:13So non-clinical branches.
08:15So perhaps some redundant branches that people don't want.
08:18And that's where all the vacancy is coming from.
08:20I have very little time, so I have to leave it there for the moment.
08:23Thank you both for joining us and for the moment.
08:25Good luck to all the kids who are appearing for the PG NEAT as well.
08:31We will say a wrap on this bulletin today.
08:34See you again tomorrow.
08:35Bye-bye.
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