Four of ten medical students in state flunked last year

Updated on: Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The class of 2010 has recorded the lowest-ever pass percentage among aspiring doctors. The failure rate has doubled, with about four out of every 10 students failing to clear the exam.

An analysis of the results provided by the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) reveals that, in the recently concluded exam, the overall pass percentage stands at 68.68 per cent, an embarrassing dip from the times when the university used to record a pass percentage of over 80 per cent.

“All through the early years of the decade that went by, most health science students cleared their examinations right in the first attempt. Now, not only has the number of shots at taking the test gone up but even the overall marks scored by candidates have fallen,” say faculty.

Teachers trace this to the poor student selection through the private CET, which was first taken by this batch. “The quality of students coming in was questionable,” said Arvind Bhore, dean, Kashibai Navle Medical College.

Students fail to stay new course

“The going for medical students,” say teachers, “gets tough right from the word go. Students who enter the health science course with high scores mysteriously sink after the first-year exams themselves.” To back that, a medical college teacher said, “First year MBBS results used to touch 90 per cent success rate. In the winter 2010 exam, the pass percentage was 32.38 per cent.”

“The results are so bad in spite of us taking great efforts to push these boys and girls to work harder. From identifying poor students to conducting extra lectures to visiting hostels and pulling them to classes, we have done every bit to ensure that students learn and clear the examinations,” said Dr Arvind Bhore, dean of Kashibai Navle Medical College.

The passing percentage dropped a bit when the Medical Council of India altered the structure of the MBBS programme and contracted the duration of the first year to one from one-and-a-half year. “Anatomy, biochemistry and physiology are lengthy subjects. Most students are unable to clear these three papers,” said Dr Udaysinh Raorane, MUHS controller of examinations.

Whether it’s the course structure or the load that a professional programme brings with it, faculty at many private colleges feel there is a huge mismatch in the students selected and the demands of the course, which has now resulted in a poor outcome.

Four of ten medical students in state flunked last year

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