Only 14% of MBBS students admitted in state colleges this year are wards of doctors
EVERY 2ND STUDENT IS FROM A BUSINESS OR A SERVICE CLASS FAMILY, FINDS DATA ANALYSIS CONDUCTED BY BFUHS
FARIDKOT: Of 1,124 students admitted in the MBBS course across all eight medical colleges in Punjab this year, only 14% (167) are children of doctors. Wards of service professionals and those from business families have taken 61% (686) of the seats. Every third student (380) set to become a doctor from the state five years from now is from a service class family.
These are some of the findings of data analysis, the first of its kind, which Baba Farid University for Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, conducted. BFUHS was the nodal agency for counselling in the state. Data also shows that only 5% of MBBS students (60) are wards of farmers, with a minuscule .5% (6) from the labour class.
BFUHS vice-chancellor Dr Raj Bahadur said, “We wanted to prepare profiles of students opting for the medical profession. Not only wards of doctors, but others are entering the profession.”
‘LUDHIANA TOPS STATE’
Even as data shows that girls (53%, 594 seats) have a slight edge over boys (47%, 530 seats) in enroling for MBBS, district-wise data puts Ludhiana at the top. From this district, 143 students (13%) have made it. The next four districts are Patiala with 92 seats (8%); Jalandhar with 87 seats (7.7%); Amritsar with 86 (7.6%) and Hoshiarpur with 64 seats (5.6%). The least number of students are from Fatehgarh Sahib (10); Nawanshahr (16); 17 each from Moga and Tarn Taran and 19 from Kapurthala districts.
‘9% COME FROM POOR FAMILIES’
Data shows that 406 of 1,124 students (36%) belong to the middle class with annual parental income between ₹5 lakh and ₹10 lakh; 302 (27%) come from the upper middle class with family income between ₹10 lakh and ₹1 crore. Only 96 (9%) of the students have family income below ₹1 lakh. Over 26% (299 students come from the lower middle class with income between ₹1 lakh and ₹5 lakh.
“Girls are better in studies, cracking all prestigious exams and attaining positions. Boys get distracted. Wards of middle-income group are doing well in competitive exams as they know that success comes through hard work,” Dr Bahadur added. He said, “The lower middle class and the poor are struggling to get their wards admitted in the noble profession. Enhanced fee is making medical education costly. Authorities must ensure that medical education is accessible for all, irrespective of their economic status.”