Divvy Kant Upadhyay, Manipal
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (GA)
Udupi, Apr 28: The state High Court has permitted Manipal University to admit 250 students for MBBS to each of its medical colleges at Mangalore and Manipal.
The Ministry of Health (GoI) had earlier recommended halving the intake of students by allowing KMC Manipal to admit 150 students and KMC Mangalore to admit 100 students only compared to their normal intake of 250 students at each college. The Manipal University and its two Kasturba Medical Colleges challenged the recommendation in the court. A Division Bench comprising Justice N Kumar and Justice A S Pachappure passed the interim order recently permitting the two colleges to admit 250 students each and adjourned the further hearing of the case. The state government also stood by the two KMCs, as it gets 92 seats (from the total of 500) for its CET candidates.
KMC degrees also continue to be recognized in the USA. The Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) is an international organization which maintains the IMED – The international Medical Education Directory. FAIMER corresponds with governments in different countries to know the official recognition status of the medical colleges in the country. According to the latest update in the FAIMER website the organization states that they received confirmation from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (of the Government of India) in March 2009, that the degree granted by Manipal University will be recognized.
Many students attending the medical colleges of Manipal University heaved a sigh of relief as they aim to go to the USA for higher studies and residency programmes. Recently on a visit to Manipal, the chief of National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) in USA, Dr Donald Melnick addressed students and showed them statistics of KMC students’ performance in USMLE exams. He was all praise about the quality of the students, because according to the statistics, almost all KMC students who gave the USMLE cleared it and obtained residencies.
Both the Kasturba Medical Colleges are among the only four medical colleges in India to have an annual intake of 250 students. According to data available with the University, 20-25 percent of Malaysian doctors practicing in Malaysia are Manipal alumni and more than 4500 doctors in USA who are members of the influential AAPI (American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin) have graduated from either of the two KMCs.