Chennai: At least 79 postgraduate medical seats in non-clinical subjects such as anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry remain vacant even after the state conducted three rounds of counselling. Officials at the state medical selection committee said no one applied for 51 govt and govt quota seats and 28 management quota seats in five non-clinical streams.
“We exhausted the merit list but found no candidates for these seats,” said a senior official in the selection committee. “We also don’t know if the students who were allotted the other non-clinical seats will turn up. The state shares 50% of postgraduate seats through the central quota,” the official said. Almost every year, seats in five non-clinical subjects – pharmacy, forensic medicine, anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry – remain vacant, the official added.
Desperate for students, deemed universities such as the SRM Medical College and Research Institute have waived tuition fees for students joining MD anatomy, biochemistry, or physiology. Some colleges even pay a stipend to students. Yet, colleges say most of these seats are vacant.
Experts say students prefer clinical specialties such as general medicine, dermatology, or surgery because they believe non-clinical streams offer limited career prospects and low incomes. Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University’s former vice-chancellor, Dr Sudha Seshayyan, said, “Many medical colleges don’t have adequate teaching faculty either because they don’t want to pay high salaries or because they can’t find them. Non-clinical subjects are being taught by people with MSc degrees.”
The Tamil Nadu govt doctors’ association is pushing to promote non-clinical careers by showcasing diverse opportunities in research and offering incentives to attract talented individuals. “Those in non-clinical streams get better perks such as non-practising allowance,” said association president Dr K Senthil.