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Scalpel losing edge: Few medical grads opt for surgery

Scalpel losing edge: Few medical grads opt for surgery 

Anuja.Jaiswal@timesofindia.com 

New Delhi : India’s top-performing medical graduates have made their preference clear in this year’s NEET-PG counselling — career stability is trumping the operating table. In the first round of NEET-PG 2025, medicine and radiology dominated choices among high-rankers while general surgery saw one of its steepest drops in recent years, reflecting growing concerns over stress, long training pathways and mounting medico-legal pressures. 

Among the first 1,500 candidates, 632 (42%) chose MD General Medicine and 447 (30%) opted for MD Radiodiagnosis. Only 99 students (6.6%) selected MS General Surgery, indicating a widening shift away from high-risk procedural fields. A strong preference for Delhi also emerged, with six of the top 10 candidates choosing Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. 

Dr Neeraj Nischal from the department of medicine at AIIMS said, “MD Medicine is the gateway to almost all superspecialities, so it has always been in high demand. Students feel diagnostics offers a more controlled work life, though that may not always be true.” The fall in interest for surgery, senior clinicians say, is rooted in deeper anxieties. “Surgical branches are very demanding — you need passion. Otherwise, burnout is inevitable,” Dr Nischal said. 

Surgeons themselves acknowledge that the field has steadily lost appeal. “It takes much longer to settle down because general surgery is only the first step — you usually need to super-specialise in neurosurgery, cardiac surgery, urology or paediatric surgery,” said Dr Piyush Ranjan from AIIMS surgery department.

NEWS TODAY 25.11.2025

 

Cyclone may get close to Chennai coast on Nov 29’

Cyclone may get close to Chennai coast on Nov 29’

25.11.2025

B Amudha, deputy director general (addl charge), IMD, said two more atmospheric circulations may influence rainfall, one over Kanyakumari, which may trigger a low-pressure area over the region and adjoining southwest Bay and Sri Lanka on Tuesday, and another over the southeast Arabian Sea. 

“All three circulations may merge due to upper-air changes. We will have details in coming days,” she said. On Monday, weather models suggested the cyclone may move close to the Chennai coast on Nov 29 and 30, though forecasts differ on landfall with models showing the system crossing the AP coast or making a northward movement into the Bay of Bengal before weakening. 

On Nov 28, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Karaikal may receive heavy to very heavy rainfall, while Tuticorin, Ramanathapuram, Pudukkottai, Cuddalore and Mayiladuthurai may get heavy rain. 

On Nov 29, rain may spread to north TN, with Mayiladuthurai, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Chengalpet, Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Puducherry likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall. 

Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Ariyalur, Kallakurichi, Tiruvannamalai, Ranipet, Vellore and Karaikal may get heavy rain. On Nov 30, Tiruvallur may receive heavy to very heavy rainfall, while Chennai, Chengalpet, Kancheepuram, Ranipet, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram and Puducherry may get heavy rain. 

On Monday, many parts of TN recorded rainfall with Parangipettai in Cuddalore district recording 4.5cm, Kanyakumari 2cm and Nagapattinam 1.3cm till 7.30pm. Light spells of 3.4mm and 0.7mm were recorded in Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam. 

Heavy rainfall over south TN in past few days has pushed up numbers, with at least 22 weather stations logging 10cm20cm in 24hours. Oothu in Tirunelveli recorded 23cm, Nalumukku 22cm, Sethiathope in Cuddalore and Kakkachi in Tirunelveli 21cm each, and Manjolai 19cm.

NEWS TODAY 24.11.2025