A career in medicine makes sense only if you are at least a PG.
So, after your MBBS, you have to plan to do a PG. The first thing is you have to appear in NEET PG. In the past when you had cleared UG, you triumphed on a huge, mixed crowd and you faced some level of competition. When you appeared in NEET PG you compete with “crème de la crème” of the field of medicine. You can take it for granted that the level of competition just went many notches higher. Okay, I agree, you are not afraid of competition.
The NEET PG entrance mandates you to retrace your steps to your first year of MBBS because the exam expects you to answer questions based on facts that you cramped up in your 1st and 2nd year of MBBS. Without challenging the intellect of the people who decide the curriculum, I would say that it appears to be an error of judgment because cramming up names of muscles or different enzymes that participate in digestion hardly establishes a medico’s clinical expertise. To top that, the number of available government medical PG seats is very less.
If you manage to overcome these odds, good for you!
However, for those who are unable to clear NEET PG, India gives one option- A PG from a private medical University. It means making an investment of at least 2 crore which, I am sure you will agree, is on the higher side. The cherry on top is that fact that the quality of education is very average. Also a PG from a private medical University in India is recognized in India alone, not so much so in the developed countries and this makes an international super specialization far-fetched.
So much for the option that India gives! What the greatest economy in the world USA offers is the greatest, even greater than a medical PG from a government medical University in India- the USMLE. In the context of USMLE an Indian aspirant becomes an IMG (International Medical Graduate).
While talking about India we discussed the cost involved if you choose to do your PG from the US, in the long turn you do not pay rather you get paid. In fact, if you do your MBBS also from US, the stipend from your PG will cover the entire cost and then some. Whatever minimal investment you need to make is the USMLE exam fee while the stipend that you receive for a month is more.
The part I liked the best about the USMLE is that the questions are never fact based rather they are mostly clinical which means you do not have to rewind to your first and second year of MBBS. Needless to say the perks are huge the financial leverage that you get after a PG in USA cannot be compared to any other post graduation not only medical.
In the US your entire PG and residency program is based at a hospital and without much emphasis on theory. Needless to say, the qualification holds so much sway that if you wish to comeback to India for practice the administration won’t ask you to clear MCI Screening Test.
I did go on to analyze this comparison between a medical PG from private Indian medical college and a PG from USA just for the hack of it. Actually there can be no comparison. Without thinking twice should go for the USMLE!
