Introduction

Biotechnology is an interdisciplinary science which covers wide variety of subjects including Chemistry, Mathematics, and Engineering. The field is also associated with subjects like Health and Medicine, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Ecology, Cell Biology and Marine Biology etc.    

Biotechnology finds promising applications in four major industrial areas, including health care (medical), crop production and agriculture, non food (industrial) uses of crops and other products (e.g. biodegradable plastics, vegetable oil, bio-fuels), and environmental uses. The Biotechnology professionals are now involved in the areas of medicine, agriculture and related fields. It is now considered as one of the fastest growing and promising field of study which is progressing ahead through research and development.

In India, the scope for education in Biotechnology is no less encouraging. Owing to its wide application in various industries, the demand for trained professionals has also increased. Realizing its academic importance, some of the institutes and universities in the country have started offering a plethora of courses for the younger generations. The courses are offered mainly at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Courses Available 

Entry into Biotechnology is mostly at the postgraduate level. However, there are few Indian universities offering undergraduate courses in Biotechnology.  Candidates having excellent academic background in science at the intermediate level can take up the course in Biotechnology viz. B.Sc, BTech or Integrated MTech course offered by the IITs.

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All India Pre-Medical / Pre-Dental Entrance Test (AIPMT) is a national level entrance examination conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to fill up 15% of the total seats for medical/dental bachelor degree courses in medical colleges run by Union of India, state government, municipal and other local authorities in India except the state of Jammu & Kashmir.

AIPMT is conducted in two stages: Preliminary Examination and Final Examination. Only those candidates who qualify the preliminary examination will be eligible to appear in the AIPMT final examination. The preliminary examination is usually held in the month of April followed by final examination in the 1st week of June. The sale of information bulletin containing application form starts in the month of October or November.

Eligibility for Admission

Age Criteria: The candidate should have completed age of 17 years at the time of admission or will complete the age on or before 31st December of the year of his/her admission to the 1st year M.B.B.S./DENTAL Course and is an INDIAN NATIONAL.

The upper age limit for All India Pre-Medical /Pre- Dental Entrance Examination is 25 years as on 31st December of the year of the entrance examination.

Educational Qualification: The candidate should have passed (at the time of admission) the Higher/Senior Secondary Examination or the Indian School Certificate Examination which is equivalent to 10+2 Higher/Senior Secondary Examination after a period of 12 years study, the last two years of such study comprising Physics, Chemistry, Biology (which shall include practical tests in these subjects) and Mathematics or any other elective subject with English at a level not less than the core course for English as prescribed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training after introduction of the 10+2+3 educational structure as recommended by the National Committee on Education.

The Intermediate/Pre-degree Examination in Science of an Indian University/Board or other recognized examining body with Physics, Chemistry, Biology (which shall include practical test in these subjects) and English will also be considered as qualifying examination.

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Armed Force Medical College, popularly known as AFMC, is a premier institute for medical education and research in the country. The AFMC is affiliated to Maharashtra University of Health Science, Nashik and is recognized by the Medical Council of India. The institute offers training to undergraduate, postgraduate and nursing students with assured jobs in defence services.

The MBBS entrance test conducted by AFMC is considered to be one of the toughest medical entrance examinations in the country. The test is usually held in the month of May and the notification for application comes during December or January. 

Eligibility for AFMC MBBS Entrance test

A candidate seeking admission to the MBBS course is eligible to take the entrance examination if he/she fulfills the following criteria:

• A candidate should be a citizen of India or be a subject of Nepal or Bhutan or a person of Indian origin migrated from Pakistan or any other foreign country with the intention of permanently settling in India.
• Must be unmarried. Marrying during the course is not permitted.
• Should be medically fit as per prescribed standards by the Govt. of India, Ministry of Defence
• Must have attained the age of 17yrs on 31st Dec of the year of application, but must not have attained the age of 22 years on that date (Not more than 24 years in case of candidates who have passed or are appearing in final B Sc examinations).

Academic Qualifications: Candidate must have passed all the subjects opted for in the first attempt of the qualifying examinations as a regular candidate with English, Physics, Chemistry and Biology taken simultaneously and securing not less than 60% of the aggregate marks in these 3 science subjects taken together and not less than 50% marks in English and 50% marks in each of the science subjects. They must have also passed an examination in Mathematics of the 10th standard.

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Jawaharlal Institute of Post-graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) is one of the premier medical institutes of India dedicated to training and research in various fields of modern medicine & health. The institute is governed by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Originally established in 1823 as a school called “Ecole de Medicine de Pondichery”, the college was subsequently upgraded to a Regional Centre and was named after the 1st Prime Minister of India - Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.

JIPMER is located towards the western side of Pondicherry city on the highway and spread over 195 acres of sloping land, known in vernacular as ‘Gorimedu’. Pondicherry is well connected by rail, road and air from various parts of the country.   

JIPMER MBBS Entrance Test

This is an All India level entrance test conducted by JIPMER for admission to M.B.B.S course. The entrance test is usually held on the second Sunday of June every year for which the announcement is made during February. Read the rest of this entry »

AIPMT Final results are out and my congratulations to all those who got good ranks. Those who could not get through , tough luck, but do not get disheartened , there is a lot you can learn from this experience which will help you to perform better in whatever you choose to do next.

What must be going through the minds of all those who got ranks now “which college can I get?”, “will I get the college of my choice?” The following table provides the information about the opening and closing ranks in the various colleges basis the AIPMT 2007 results. This can be a good indication as to what you may expect for your rank.

Happy Counceling!

What an MBBS course offers is education and training to help an individual acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes that are needed to practice as a doctor.

Students aspiring to take up medicine as career very often face the dilemma as to which medical college is better equipped to provide them with these necessary knowledge and skills. In India the dilemma at the first level is whether to study in a government college or a private medical college. By default in India government medical colleges are preferred by students over private medical colleges. The primary reason is the fee structure. But besides that there other reasons why government colleges are preferred? Important among these are

1.   These colleges on account of very high volume of patients provide ample and rigorous clinical practice and experience, a key requirement for any MBBS course. In this regard private colleges face the limitation as the volume of patients in  affiliated or attached  private hospitals is significantly low and in some cases where they have affiliations with government hospitals theses arrangements are inadequate

2.    The level of education is also higher in government colleges; there have been cases where students studying in private colleges had to seek extra tuitions from outside.

3.     The economical fee structure as mentioned earlier of government colleges vis a vis additional fees, development fees, special contribution, capitation fee etc charged by the private institutions.

4.     Latest equipment and gadgets are generally available in all government colleges providing students with exposure to the latest advancements in medical sciences.

But having said above on one count where in general private medical colleges score above the government colleges is the students facilities- classrooms, hostels, mess, labs etc.

Though above comparison is largely true there are obvious exceptions like Kasturba Medical College, Manipal or St. John’s Bangalore. These and some other private colleges are on all counts better than most of the government colleges. Also there has been a change which is coming by and private medical colleges are improving and the gap between private and government colleges is fast disappearing. We hope that they will soon be at par and better.

Although there is no official ranking system for medical colleges in India, surveys have been conducted by number of private agencies taking into account factors like facilities, patient volume, past placements, faculty etc. One such survey was conducted by DoctorNDTV last year. The ranking of medical colleges basis this survey is as below

  Ranking of Medical Institutes

Source: www.doctorndtv.com

My suggestion to students is that rather than looking at above data from the point of view of ranking and relative positioning, look at it to identify the top twenty medical colleges in India.

As the AIIMS exams are only a few days away, 100percentile would like to wish all the students who are planning to appear in this exam the very best of luck . For those who are starting their preparation journey, this article aims to give them some basic information about the institute and its courses.

AIIMS was originally created in 1965 using a grant from the government of New Zealand, following Nehru’s vision to create the leading institute for research, teaching and patient care. Every year, AIIMS accepts only 33 students in the General Category, and 11 in the reserved category. Based on the number of applicants who take the entrance exam (close to 80,000) – that makes it probably the most competitive examination in the world. The acceptance rate is only about 0.06% or so, compared to the IITs – which have an acceptance rate of about 2%. It is consistently ranked as the top medical college in India by a survey annually run by the magazine India Today.

It is not difficult to pinpoint the exact reason why AIIMS enjoys such high rankings among medical institutes in India. Most experts point to the clinically targeted teaching, the overall facilities, the small class sizes and overall exposure to research, as being the main factors. The high selectivity of the entrance exams ensures that the brightest students get into the class, thereby ensuring that the educational environment is kept at the highest caliber.

What is certain, however, is that India needs many more institutes like AIIMS, both to provide quality medical care to people who cannot afford to go to expensive private hopitals and also to provide the kind of quality education opportunities to many more students.

The graphical description of AIIMS’ courses is from the institute website - http://www.aiims.edu/

-VG

In our constant endeavor to provide one stop solution to students for all their education and learning needs, 100percentile is proud to announce the launch of our website for Medical Entrance examinations. The new website will offer high quality, comprehensive online resources to students aspiring to take up Medicine as a profession.

After successfully establishing ourselves a the leading portal offering comprehensive online assessment, performance analysis , guidance and information resources in the IITJEE and engineering entrance examination space , 100Percentile aims to extend the  same value proposition  to students targeting Medical entrance examinations like AIPMT, AIIMS, JIPMER ,AFMC and others, through this new offering.

Students will find online assessment courses consisting of topical and cumulative syllabus tests that are designed to highlight key concepts and accelerate learning, and are developed by experts from our partners ALLEN Career Institute, the established leaders in Medical Entrance preparation space.

Students can avail the facilities at our “Medical Forums” for sharing knowledge, discussing issues and almost anything which is of interest to a medical aspirant. There are dedicated sections on the forums where a panel of experts will answer the questions posted by students and provide the required guidance.

Like our IITJEE and engineering offering we are pleased to announce that we are also starting our Q-Challenge feature on the new Medical website for the students to test themselves by answering a daily question and earn points which can be redeemed for exciting prizes.

Through our continual R&D efforts and collaborations we would be bringing more information resources and innovative online educational services and products which would help pre-medical students to assess themselves, get their problems answered, concerns addressed, concepts strengthened and skills sharpened. So join in and expect more from us in coming days.