Counselling delay to cause shortage of doctors in AIIMS
While it was supposed to take place in December first week, it has not been started yet, doctors said.
NEW DELHI: The AIIMS in Delhi is likely to face a shortage of doctors as counselling for new entrants of the 2018 session has been delayed for the first time.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) this year had switched from personal counselling to online counselling for qualified candidates seeking admission in its campus and other cities such as Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Raipur, and Rishikesh.
While it was supposed to take place in December first week, it has not been started yet, doctors said.
Members of the AIIMS Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) said that the AIIMS examination authorities informed them that the delay was due to certain “technical issues”.
Dr Vijay Gurjar, senior resident, department of geriatric medicine, said that the authorities were not ready with the software yet and there was no chance of getting it next week also. He added that the institute should have held the online counselling from next academic session with full-fledged preparations and trials.
The premier medical institute is offering 112 postgraduate seats for 2018 and had decided to go online for counselling sessions on December 1.
The results of the entrance exam were out on November 18 this year.
The resident doctors have said that the delay in allotment of institutions and courses to fresh batches of candidates may cause a shortage of doctors at the institute as the existing batches of the junior residents, around 150, are scheduled to leave on December 31. This means that the hospital will be short of 150 residents from January 1.
Junior residents are MBBS graduates, who have qualified the postgraduate entrance exam and allotted the three-year MD or MS courses.
“That’s a shame on a premier institute,” said Dr Gurjar.