RGUHS PGET Counselling Dates

The second and de-categorised rounds of counselling for admission to postgraduate medical and dental courses for 2009-10 academic year will be held from May 20 to 22 at Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences campus in Jayanagar here.

On May 20, second round and de-categorised round for dental (in-service candidates) will be from 9.30 a.m. to 11 a.m., while that of medical (in-service candidates) will be held between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

On May 21, counselling for dental (entrance candidates - all ranks) will be held between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Second round of counselling for medical (PH candidates) and medical (entrance candidates – ranks one to 600) will be held from 1+ p.m. to 5.30 p.m. On May 22, second round counselling for medical (entrance candidates – ranks 601 to last) will be from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The de-categorised round of counselling for medical (entrance candidates - all ranks) will be held from 1 p.m. the same day.

Ayurveda courses

The RGUHS will conduct the first round of counselling for admission to PG courses in Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, Pharmacy and Nursing for the seats in Government colleges and Government seats in private and minority colleges for the academic year 2009-10 on May 19 and May 23.

While counselling for pharmacy will be held between 9 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. on May 19.

Flying Teachers Bail Out Colleges

Desperate times call for desperate measures. So, medical, dental and nursing colleges in Karnataka, which are desperately short of teaching staff, fly in teachers when they come up for inspection by regulatory bodies.

College managements rope in teachers for a few hours or days till the inspection is completed and then fly them back. These teachers, who usually don't work in any institution, are present during the inspection and earn anything between Rs 5,000 and Rs 25,000, depending on their experience. Sometimes, they even demand, and get, gold chains!

Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) officials told Sunday Times of India the practice was more rampant in nursing colleges simply because there are 325 in the state and there aren't enough teachers. Of course, it happens in some medical and dental institutions too.

As per apex body norms, every department should have a minimum number of teachers and professors. "However, for certain departments like forensic, paramedical and pre-clinical, pharmacology and anaesthesia, it is difficult to get teachers," officials said.

Besides regulatory bodies, the RGUHS Local Inquiry Committee (LIC) also conducts an annual inspection to grant affiliation. "The committee inspects colleges and files its report to the university. Later, it's placed before the university's academic council. The final decision is taken by the syndicate," the official explained.

Medical Council of India (MCI) president Dr Ketan Desai told STOI the council has taken various measures to crack down on teachers who work only during inspection.

Bunked? New Software Will Tell All

No more bunking to pack in movies, outings, dates... not when Big Brother is silently recording and uploading it on the university website. Internal Assessments (IA) are also to be taken seriously, or it could get pretty serious. The Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) has designed a software which automatically rejects a candidate's exam application form, if attendance and IA performance is not satisfactory.

According to university rules, three IAs are conducted, of which the average of the best two is taken. Students have to net a minimum of 35% in IA and 80% attendance for each subject. The aim: to bring in transparency and error-free conduct of the examination.

In the new software, colleges will have to upload details of IA and attendance of each candidate subject-wise, on the university website. "If a student fails to get the minimum criteria, the computer does not generate the exam application form," RGUHS registrar S Vasantha Kumar told The Times of India.

As and when the IA is completed, every medical college can enter marks and attendance, subject-wise and year-wise. The university will also fix the term and month for conducting IA. "Before uploading on the website, colleges should notify this on their notice board and call for objections from students. They can rectify corrections, if any. Once posted on the website, no corrections will be allowed," he stated.

At present, IA marks and attendance are entered manually by two university officials, and a print-out is taken and verified. In the new software, colleges will enter details and call for corrections, so errors are few and accountability is better.

To ensure speedy results, the university will also provide Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) to examiners. "After practicals, marks are entered in an OMR sheet, which is scanned in the computer. However, if an examiner commits a mistake while entering marks, he/she can use whitener and correct it, but will have to sign after the correction."

Source

RGUHS to Post Seat Matrix Like CET

The Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) will go the CET way. For the first time, the university will post seat matrix for post-graduation courses on its website, well ahead of the seat-selection process.

With an objective to ensure more transparency, the university will post seat matrix for its diploma and degree courses. "Candidates will thus be mentally prepared during counselling,'' RGUHS registrar S Vasantha Kumar said.

At the time of counselling, wide screens will be put up to display the seats available in each college. As and when a candidate selects a seat, it will be immediately displayed on the screen. Further, the candidate's rank and seat selected in the college will also be displayed. "At the end of the counseling, candidates can know the availability of seats in colleges on the website," Kumar said.

Referring to seat matrix, he said the university is yet to receive communication from the government. "As soon as the matrix is announced, counselling dates will be finalized.''

Moon Mission Carried Out With Minimum Money, Time: ISRO Chief

India’s indigenous Chandrayaan-I moon mission was carried out with “minimum financial resources” and in a “shortest possible time,” ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said March 27.

“It is a testimony of the competence of the Indian scientists who achieved it with their indigenous technology with minimum financial resources in the shortest possible time,” Nair said, addressing the 11th annual convocation of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Karnataka.

He said though the outstanding progress in the filed of health care has made India a preferred destination for patients from across the world, these facilities are yet to reach the rural areas of the country.
(PTI)

7 Gold Medals for MBBS

He wants to serve people in rural areas and studying abroad is a strict no-no. Meet Sripathi Kamath B, 24, of Yennepoya Medical College, Mangalore, who bagged seven gold medals for MBBS on the 11th convocation of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS).

He wants to return to his hometown Karkala after completing his masters in Opthamology at St John's Medical college.

He prefers to work in community oriented opthamology, provide quality ophthalmic care to poor families and pursue basic science research in Opthamology. He is also the first person in the family to become a doctor. "It was my grandfather who advised me to take MBBS and serve the poor," he said.

He has also completed an advanced course in playing the Tabla and secured 3rd and 4th rank in Hindustani vocal and Tabla in the Karnataka State Board Examination.

-- Archana Shenoy, another student from Yenepoya Medical College, bagged seven gold medals in BDS course. An elated Archana attributed her success to her parents and lecturers. "I would concentrate in the class and revise day-to-day lessons," she said

Planning to pursue masters in dentistry, she said her performance in the entrance test will be the deciding factor. "Despite getting gold medals, my marks in the entrance test matters."

-- Patil Sumit Raosaheb from Hassan bagged two gold medals in BAMS course. "Ayurveda is the base for all medical sciences. Moreover, Ayurveda courses are slowly gaining popularity," he said.

'Accept Challenges, Develope Quality Services'

Students must try to accept challenges in developing quality services and make those available to rural areas, according to ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair.

At the 11th convocation of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) on Thursday, Nair said India's literacy rate has increased to over 65% after independence. "But we still have a long way to go in educating people, especially women. It's proven that population growth is related to illiteracy among women, particularly in rural areas. Education is the backbone of any society," he explained.

"Despite advances in various fields, rural health care needs a boost. Many good doctors are confined to the metros, so are most speciality hospitals. We should take health care to rural areas so that it benefits those living in villages."

`1 doctor for 2,000 patients'

He said there is only one doctor for 2,000 patients and the number of hospital beds to the entire population is about 1.1 beds (average). "We need to invest in medical facilities. Private investment meets 75% of health care demands in India. With nearly 300 million people living below poverty line, we need innovative methods to bring medical care within their reach," he explained.

Genetic medicine

Nair feels advances in genetic medicine will follow soon. Breakthroughs in this area will allow diseases to be diagnosed much earlier, before they even show any symptom.

"With such detection capability, one can take preventive therapies to stop progression of the illness or slow it," he explained.

Source

High Court Allows RGUHS Convocation

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday permitted the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) to go ahead with its convocation scheduled to be held at Dhanavantri Hall on the university premises in Jayanagar on Thursday.

The court made it clear that the RGUHS could not award the gold medal in postgraduate stream in ENT.

Justice Mohan Shantanagouder passed the order on a petition by Soumya of Bangalore Medical College who had challenged the exclusion of her name from the final list of gold medallists.

Dr. Soumya said she joined the PG course in ENT in 2005. She was scheduled to take her final examination in April 2008. She said she had availed of maternity leave during the course. When she reported back, she was told only staff could avail themselves of maternity leave.

The college intervened and RGUHS permitted her to take the examination after she got the requisite attendance in October 2008 examination, in which she got 70 per cent.

RGUHS then came out with a preliminary list of gold medallists in medicine, dentistry and pharmacy. Dr. Soumya, who secured the highest percentage, was marked as a gold medal winner but her name was absent in the final list as university rules require that gold medallists have to complete the course within the shortest time. The gold medal in ENT went to Vineeta Udoshi of JN Medical College, Belgaum and Dr. Soumya petitioned the court.

When the matter came up, Justice Mohan Shantangouder asked RGUHS to refrain from awarding the medal till the matter was settled. He permitted the convocation to go on and adjourned hearing of the case.

Doctor Loses Medal Over Technicality

Dr Soumya M S was exultant she'd won a gold medal in her post-graduation course but now she's stunned into sadness. For, the university has told her she won't get it.

A student of the Bangalore Medical College, she topped the MS (ENT) course with 70% and her name was among the gold medallists in the provisional list of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) released on Feb. 16, 2008.

On Saturday, Soumya found that not only was her name missing but another student's
name was listed as the topper.

"When I approached the university authorities, they told me I didn't complete the course within the minimum period. I had taken maternity leave for 5 1/2 months with the university's
permission. During this period, I was not given any attendance or stipend. This means I have three years of attendance, which is the course duration. Since I was on leave, I had to write the exam in October 2008,'' she said.

RGUHS explains it differently. "The university put up the list of students who satisfied the eligibility criteria for gold medals. The first list was announced so that people could file their objections. A girl from Belgaum said she is eligible for the rank as she completed the course in April," Dr S Sacchidanand, registrar (evaluation), RGUHS told STOI.

He added: "The candidate should have the highest marks in MS (ENT) and completed the course in the first attempt in the minimum period of time. But in Soumya's case, she completed the course in three years and six months. The the admission date and completion date are mentioned in the marksheet and degree certificate
. The donor mentioned that the gold medal should be given to those who complete the course in the minimum possible duration, which is three years. It all depends on the donors' criteria. If they say it can be awarded to candidates with highest marks, then we'll consider October also," he added.

However, Dr B Shankar Medikeri, secretary, Bangalore ENT Trust, which instituted the Dr M V Venkateshmurthy gold medal said: "The guidelines, which were instituted in 2003, states that an MS student passing in the first attempt and completing the course in minimum possible duration and securing highest marks in MS (ENT) shall be eligible for the gold medal."

But Dr Soumya said: "In the previous years, students who topped, whether in April or October, were given medals. I've approached the Upa Lok Ayukta to settle the issue."

RGUHS to Develop Model Library Soon

RGUHS registrar Sachidananda described the library as an abode of goddess Saraswathi. He was addressing the gathering at JJM Medical college in Davanagere, after inaugurating a two-day annual conference of librarians of Karnataka medical library association (KMLA-2009).

The event was organised by KMLA in association with Bapuji Educational Association's health science institutions, Davanagere and RGUHS, Bangalore.

He said that the library is important to any institute and reflects the quality of that organization. RGUHS will develop a model library of its own soon after the university's building is constructed. The university will extend all support to establish libraries at all the colleges under the RGUHS, he assured.

Sitting MLA and chairman of JJM Medical college Shamanur Shivashankarappa who presided over the event said that the management has been spending Rs 1.5 crore every year for the JJMMC library and converted it into a digital one. Principal H R Chandrashekhar, director H Gurupadappa, treasurer of BEA A C Jauanna spoke on the occasion.

Two senior librarians, Nagappa and Karisiddappa, were honoured on the occasion, in recognition of their yeoman service in the field of library science.

JJMMC chief librarian P S Mahesh, KMLA secretary Venkatesh, with 150 librarians hailing from different colleges of the state, including allopathy, ayurvedic, homeopathic, Unani, Yoga and naturopathy, nursing, dental colleges attended the meeting.

Source

Graduates Advised To Be Global Professionals

S Ramananda Shetty, vice-chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore advised the fresh graduates not to be restricted by boundaries, but to be global professionals in a global world. He asked them to develop competencies to be the best in the world.

Participating in the graduation day of Srinivas group of colleges at Valachil near here on Sunday, Dr Shetty advised the graduates to carry a message that there is no end for global education with the hi-tech IT modalities. "It is up to their apacities to acquire maximum knowledge", he said and advised them to become true professionals to serve society with true dedication.

There were 600 graduates present from all over India, Nepal and Bhutan. Raghvendra Rao, president, A Shama Rao Foundation presided over the function.

SOURCE

Mangalore: Blood Donation Camp Held at MV Shetty College

A blood donation camp was held at M V Shetty Trust College auditorium, organized by the volunteers of the National Service Scheme (NSS) of the college on Saturday February 14.

Inaugurating the camp, Dr S Ramananda Shetty, vice-chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University Health Sciences, said that blood is needed for every human being when in crisis. He said that caste or creed doesn’t matter when donating blood.


“Classroom teaching confined to the four walls and only from text books is not enough. But students have to mingle with the community to know the problems faced by people and serve them”, he emphasized. Dr Shetty was felicitated on the occasion.

Dr Sucharita Rao, blood bank officer, Government Wenlock Hospital, and Prof Chandrashekar Shetty were present on the occasion. Dr Ramgopal Shetty, founder secretary of the trust, presided over the function.

PGET Malpractice: All Debarred From Same Centre

Of the 17 centres where the PGET was conducted on Sunday, all the 52 candidates who were caught indulging in malpractice had two things in common -- they were all from the same centre and all made markings on the question paper. According to RGUHS, the candidates took the test at MS Ramaiah Medical College centre.

Surprisingly, of the 52 debarred, 51 were dental aspirants and just one was a medical candidate. In fact, officials too are stumped as to how 52 candidates could have indulged in malpractice and, that too, at the same centre.

According to rules, students are not allowed to write/mark on the question booklet and it is considered a `malpractice.'

For Post Graduate Entrance Test (PGET)-2009, 7,974 candidates registered for medical stream and 7,631 appeared. In dental, 2,477 registered and 2,400 appeared, bringing the total number of candidates in both streams to 10,031.

SOURCE

Students Caught Cheating During RGUHS PGET

Fifty-two students were caught indulging in malpractice during the state post-graduate entrance test conducted by Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) on Sunday. The incident was reported at the M S Ramaiah College centre.

The students' answerscripts were confiscated and they were not allowed to finish the exam, the chief superintendent of the centre said. According to him, the candidates were found marking the question paper when they were explicitly told not to do so.

"The second instruction in the paper clearly asks students not to write anything on the question paper," said RGUHS registrar S Vasantha Kumar. He rued the fact that the students deliberately disobeyed university rules.

RGUHS evaluation registrar S Sachidanand said penalty for writing on the question paper is immediate expulsion from the examination hall. Vasantha Kumar said one of the caught students threatened to make a criminal charge against the university for alleged paper leakage. "I have not received any such complaints of the paper having leaked," the registrar added. He refused to confirm the number of candidates who were debarred from the centre following the incident.

Accoding to sources, a few students had alleged a leak some days ago, saying question papers were being sold by touts in a hotel for an undisclosed sum.

Via - Times of India

RGUHS PGET on Feb 1

The Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) will conduct the Post Graduate Entrance Test (PGET) 2009 on February 1 for the government seats in medical and dental colleges. The entrance exams will be held in 11 centres across the State.

The Post Graduate Entrance Test 2009 for in-service candidates will be conducted on February 5 at the Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Bangalore.

Nearly 10,450 applicants will be taking the exam for Post Graduate or Diploma seats in medicine and dental. A detailed list of all the eligible candidates and their allotted centres have been displayed on the RGUHS website (www.rguhs.ac.in). The university in its release has said that the hall tickets have been dispatched before January 22 of this year.

RGUHS has also asked those applicants who have lost their hall tickets to report to the chief superintendent of the designated centre two hours before the commencement of the examination with a Demand Draft of Rs 750 drawn in favour of Registrar, RGUHS, Bangalore.

A detailed instructions for the benefit of the candidates has been put up on the RGUHS website.

SOURCE

RGUHS Nursing Students Hit By Ill-Conceived System

A mere 25% first year nursing students in Karnataka clear the examinations, statistics compiled by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) shows. This because medical subjects are taught by medical college teachers, whose expectations nursing students are unable to meet!

The statistics show that there has been no improvement in the average results in the last five years, except in 2006, when the overall pass percentage shot up to 41.82%. "In 2006, there were some discrepancies in the question paper and as a result we had to award 10 marks to each candidate," said Dr S Sacchidanand, registrar (evaluation), RGUHS.

Second and third year nursing results, are however, better compared to first year.

Elaborating on the results, he said in the first year students have to write six papers, which includes three medical papers -- anatomy, biochemistry and physiology. "The medical subjects are taught by medical college teachers, who set and evaluate the paper. Naturally, the expectations of these teachers is higher. When the students fail to meet the expectations they are awarded less marks or even failed.''

The criteria to clear the exam is a minimum 40% marks in each paper and 50% in internal assessment, with an aggregate of 50% . "For instance, if a student has secured 35% in theory and has secured minimum eligibility or even higher marks in other areas, he will still be declared fail," Sacchidanand said.

Sacchidanand said poor results have a direct bearing on the students' future as most of them take educational loans to pursue the course. "If they fail in the first year exams, the loan is denied to them. Also, there is the possibility that student might get discouraged and discontinue studies. Already, we are seeing a decline in admissions __ less than 50% __ which may get affected further," he said.

RGUHS is now contemplating training nursing teachers to handle medical subjects.

After the first year results were announced, the nursing colleges wrote to the university regarding the low pass percentage. "This year, we have revised the curriculum and examination system. Some kind of resistance was expected. However, the results has been more or less same compared to previous years," Dr S Ramananda Shetty, vice-chancellor, RGUHS told The Times of India.

The university only declares results and "it's the teachers who set the papers and value the answer scripts," he added.

The university has held discussions with the chairman (Board of Studies (BoS) and dean of faculty over the issue. "Whatever is possible from the university we will consider it," the VC has said.

Poor showing

Year------Results

2003-----27.17%

2004---28.57%

2005-----20%

2006-----41.82%

2007-----30.13%

2008---24.19%

SOURCE

Former IAS Officer To Probe RGUHS Land Issue

The Karnataka Government has appointed Abhay Prakash, a former IAS officer, to inquire into the alleged irregularities in land acquisition and construction work in setting up of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) campus at Ramanagaram, which has been at the centre of an acrimonious debate between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party Government and the Janata Dal (Secular).

In 2007, a decision was taken to shift the RGUHS from Bangalore to Ramanagaram, the constituency of the then Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, and to construct a new university campus at a cost of Rs. 333 crore on 100 acres of land. However, the present Government reopened the issue alleging that the land for the university campus was still tied up in litigation with private landowners.

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had announced in the Legislative Assembly in July 2008 that he would order an inquiry on how advance payment of Rs. 33 crore had been made to Messrs. Nagarjuna Constructions by the Public Works Department (PWD) before the land was acquired for the university campus.
Reaction

Reacting to Mr. Yeddyurappa’s remarks, H.D. Revanna who was the PWD Minister in the Kumaraswamy Government, asserted that no rules were broken while making the advance payment. Congress leaders, on the other hand, asked how the BJP, which was part of the coalition government led by Mr. Kumaraswamy, could have not known of the irregularities when the payment was made after Cabinet clearance.

Earlier in the same month, two senior officials of the PWD — K. Jayaprakash, Chief Engineer, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), and B.L. Ravindra Babu, Superintendent Engineer, Communications and Buildings — had been suspended for their alleged role in payment of the advance. The Government had, however, recovered the money from the company.
Development

In the latest development, in its order dated December 31, 2008, the Government had asked Mr. Prakash to submit the inquiry report on six Public Works Department officials within three months. The present inquiry will be against six PWD engineers of various ranks: K. Jayaprakash, B.L. Ravindra Babu, C.N. Guruswamy, K.M. Shivaprakash, R.C. Kodandaramish and B.R. Muralidhar Rao. Superintendent Engineer, PWD, Bangalore Circle, will be the presenting officer for the inquiry.
Noting

Interestingly, while one of the notings of Chief Secretary Sudhakar Rao, dated July 8, 2008, suggested that there were also lapses on the part of the Medical Education Department and the Commerce and Industries Department, and an inquiry could be initiated against them.
Present inquiry

The present inquiry is restricted to the role of Public Works Department officials in the case.

The Government has fixed an honorarium of Rs. 75,000 for the inquiry officer, and directed the Superintendent Engineer to make necessary arrangements for the conduct of the inquiry.

Source - The Hindu

Govt To Push Play On RGUHS

Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday assured on the floor of the Legislative Assembly that the government would soon begin work on the troubled Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) as almost all hurdles that had delayed the take-off had been cleared.

Replying to a discussion under Rule 69 (issue of immediate public importance) initiated by H C Balakrishna (JDS) and former minister D K Shiva Kumar (Congress) over the delay in starting RGUHS work at the proposed site at Archakarahalli in Ramanagaram, the CM clarified that his “government is not against development and would soon start the work”.

The CM said that when the project was cleared (by the previous JD-S – BJP coalition government) there was “no identification of land, no plan sanction, no estimation and the contract was given without inviting proper tenders.

The government had to cancel the contract and order an inquiry by suspending top officials in the PWD.” This apart, some farmers had filed a petition in the court questioning the land acquisition leading to further delay, he said.

“Now that farmers have decided to withdraw their case, the government would soon start the work as there was no dearth of funds,’’ he said. He took a jibe at former minister H D Revanna, asking him to fix a date after consulting his astrologers.

Earlier replying to Balakrishna’s charges on delay in starting the work, PWD Minister C M Udasi and Medical Education Minister Ramachandra Gowda had said that there was still a dispute over 70 acres required for the project. The debate also witnessed a unique show of solidarity between arch political rivals H D Kumaraswamy and D K Shiva Kumar, urging the government to start the work within a week.

Fund utilisation Replying to allegations that funds meant for the development of schedule castes were lying unused, Yeddyurappa said that he would speed it up in the next couple of months by holding regular meetings and reviews, besides directing district in-charge Ministers to do the same.

The CM attributed the delay in utilisation of funds to the late State Budget 2008-09, Governor’s rule and byelections in six districts.

Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress MLAs Dhruvanarayan and H C Mahadevappa had raised objections to the delay in utilising funds.

Source - ExpressBuzz

Conduct of BDS Examination during January – 2009 - Revised Timetable

The detailed Revised Time-Table of BDS (UG) course of III BDS, IV (Part-I) and IV (Part-II) of January 2009 is changed.  However the Ist and IInd year BDS course Time Table is remain unchanged.

You can view or download the timetable here

RGUHS to Revise Exam Rules

Medical education in Karnataka is set to cut the flab courtesy the recently constituted “think tank” or planning board of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS). While this may translate into a tougher academic course and more stringent benchmarks for students of medicine in future years, the team is looking at boosting standards in medical education and increased collaboration among colleges.

First on the planning board’s checklist is a revamp of the marking scheme to comply with Medical Council of India (MCI) guidelines. Starting from the next academic year, students in medical colleges will have to walk that extra mile in their university examinations and cannot fall back on their internal marks (awarded by colleges) to clear various stages of the medical course.

“The most significant change will be that students will have to score a minimum of 50 per cent marks in exams conducted by the university to pass the examination,” RGUHS Registrar Vasanth Kumar told.

Scraping Through

While the university examination accounts for 200 marks (theory and practical), 100 marks are decided at the individual college level, following the formative assessment model used for most professional courses. So, if a student is awarded 90 marks by the college in internals, he/she can scrape through by scoring just 60 marks out of 200 in the examination conducted by the university.

New Rules

While the student has to still secure 35 per cent in his internal assessment (practical and theory combined), the university has also decreed that the 50 per cent pass criterion will be a twofold one: students will have to score 50 per cent in the university examination and also manage an aggregate 50 per cent in the university examination and internals combined.

For a university with a pass percentage averaging between 60 and 70, raising the bar further is a bold move. However, academics on the planning board felt that misuse of internal marks and nepotism in some colleges were leading to a dilution of standards.

“Some colleges give students 58 or even 59 out of 60 marks in theory internals. In a field like ours this is equivalent to implying that the student is fit to be a professor. What is the use of fostering such a culture,” the Registrar asked.

This is in compliance with a Supreme Court decision in a case filed by a student against the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Mr. Kumar explained. However, the new rules will be implemented only for students who join the university in 2009.

Formed Last Month

The planning board, which has been on the cards since the inception of the university, was constituted in November by Vice-Chancellor Ramanand Shetty to revamp medical education. S. Kumar, Principal of M.S. Ramaiah Medical College, and member of this board, said that several changes were on the anvil.

“We are looking at resource sharing and better collaboration among institutions. We will identify institutions of repute and encourage external posting of students so strengths can be shared,” Dr. Kumar added.

Via - The Hindu