A doctor is a professional who is trained in medicine to restore the health of patients.  A career as a doctor is considered very reputed, most families dream of seeing their kid become a doctor. Hence, we see millions of kids aspiring to be doctors.

If you are planning to be a doctor, then let’s get a brief idea about how to be one. 

How to be a doctor?

In order to become a doctor, a person is supposed to pursue an undergraduate course after 10+2 i.e., MBBS which stands for Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. It is a course which is 5.5 years long and the last 1 year is allocated for an internship in various departments of medicine.

Eligibility for MBBS Admission in India

Here’s a small check list which is applicable for someone who’s planning to get admission in MBBS.

• Students must have cleared their 10+2 exam with Physics, Chemistry and Biology with at least 50% for general category and 40% for reserved quota.
• Students must be an Indian National citizen to take admission through the all India entrance exam National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET), formerly called All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT).
• Students should be 17+ as on 31st December of the year of admission.

Entrance exam to get admission in a medical college

When we think of MBBS, we only think of attempting NEET to get admission. But some medical colleges like All India Institute of Medical Sciences for MBBS (AIIMS MBBS), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU NEET) and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER MBBS) have their separate entrance examinations for MBBS conducted by their respective authority.

NEET

NEET is the qualifying test for MBBS and BDS programmes in Indian medical and dental colleges and is applicable for both private and government colleges. NEET test is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). It carries 180 multiple-choice questions from Chemistry, Physics and Biology. Each question contains 4 marks and the candidate scores 4 for every correct answer while 1 mark is deducted for every incorrect response.

It is worth mentioning that the NEET exam is undertaken by every MBBS aspirant to get enrolled for an MBBS course in India. This important medical entrance examination is conducted across 3862 test centres in India. More than 15 lacs candidates appeared for NEET in 2021. This dream of becoming a doctor comes true only when candidates qualify for the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) with the minimum qualifying percentile of 50%.

On the basis of the scores obtained by candidates in NEET, 15% of the total intake of seats from every government college is reserved for the All India quota (AIQ). While, the remaining 85% seats are available for candidates who fulfil the required eligibility criteria for state quota seats.

Becoming a doctor is a very rewarding career option with opportunity to serve the humanity but at the same time it involves a lot of hard work and strong  commitment. A large number of students in india aspire to become doctors to be able to serve large population and help them in restoring the health. The training lasts for 5.5 years but getting an admission into a medical college can be very challenging. Although both government and private medical colleges requires qualification through NEET, taking admission in private medical college in India is considered much easier than getting an admission in a government medical college and the fee structure of the two differs drastically.