KGMU to fill vacant BDS seats through separate exam

LUCKNOW: Vacant BDS seats of the dental study programme at King George’s Medical University (KGMU) will now be filled through a separate exam. A resolution on this was passed on Monday at the faculty board meeting of the dental wing.

The decision was taken keeping in view that a lot of students leave the BDS programme once they got MBBS seats in following attempts through CPMT, or seats in reputed colleges of other states. This led to many seats in the BDS programme getting wasted as is evident by the strength of the batch that is going into the third year of the BDS course, this year. There are just 24 students while 46 seats are lying vacant.

At the meeting chaired by the vice chancellor, members decided that a separate entrance test should be conducted and meritorious students be given admission directly into the second year. The applicants would be BDS students from other colleges who wished to join KGMU.

The decision is also expected to have a positive impact on the efficiency of clinical work for patients seeking dental treatment at KGMU, as low count of dental students often results in avoidable delays.

However the proposal, which was made on the basis of the provisions in the Dental Council of India’s (DCI) regulations for dental colleges, needs the approval of the state government and will be tabled at the next executive council meeting.

The other major decision taken was inclusion of diploma courses in different departments, subject to the dental council’s guidelines.

It was also decided that the term of senior residents, appointed in the dental faculty, be extended to three years from the existing one-year term. However, yearly performancebased approvals would be needed for continuing the term.