AURANGABAD: Already under fire for not fulfilling certain norms, the Saraswati-Dhanwantari Dental College and Hospital in Parbhani has landed in yet another controversy by asking its final year students to bring their own patients for the practical examinations.
Barely a week back, the college was in the news for not fulfilling norms of the Dental Council of India, New Delhi, Maharashtra University of Health Science and University Grants Commission.
Some of the students who could not find patients for their practicals said they stand to lose a year. And those who did manage to find people with dental problems said they had to spend at least Rs 300-500 on each patient.
The first batch of 15 final-year BDS students of the college appeared for the practical exams on Monday. "The college told us to get our own patients. Those who could not find patients were turned away by the examiner," a student said on condition of anonymity.
"Earlier, the college had said that the students would require patients suffering from caries in the initial stage for the practical exams in the Community Dentistry subject. But it changed the topic on exam day and said students needed to get patients with multiple teeth affected. It is very difficult to find patients with a particular disease at the last minute," said another student.
For the practicals, the final year students need to do a tooth extraction, which carries 50 out of the total 100 marks. For the process, colleges are supposed to get patients from hospitals attached.
"However, even after paying our fees, we were asked to arrange for patients for the extraction. It has put us in a tight spot," said a student, adding that the college never stressed on hands-on experience.
Another student said, "We have to check patients free of charge and even pay them for coming to us. We often have to negotiate with them. Realising that we need them, these patients even bill us the travel cost of coming to the college."
College dean Sanjay Nilawar said the students may not have got patients from the hospital's OPD. "Sometimes, patients relating to some specific topics are not available in the OPD. Otherwise, it is regular practice that students take patients from the hospital's OPD for their practicals," he said.
According to the DCI norms for the BDS final year practical exams, it is mandatory for colleges to provide patients for each student (3rd and 4th year). "The college needs to have 350-400 patients every day in its OPD to cater to the 100-seat BDS and MDS courses," an executive member of the DCI said.
Barely a week back, the college was in the news for not fulfilling norms of the Dental Council of India, New Delhi, Maharashtra University of Health Science and University Grants Commission.
Some of the students who could not find patients for their practicals said they stand to lose a year. And those who did manage to find people with dental problems said they had to spend at least Rs 300-500 on each patient.
The first batch of 15 final-year BDS students of the college appeared for the practical exams on Monday. "The college told us to get our own patients. Those who could not find patients were turned away by the examiner," a student said on condition of anonymity.
"Earlier, the college had said that the students would require patients suffering from caries in the initial stage for the practical exams in the Community Dentistry subject. But it changed the topic on exam day and said students needed to get patients with multiple teeth affected. It is very difficult to find patients with a particular disease at the last minute," said another student.
For the practicals, the final year students need to do a tooth extraction, which carries 50 out of the total 100 marks. For the process, colleges are supposed to get patients from hospitals attached.
"However, even after paying our fees, we were asked to arrange for patients for the extraction. It has put us in a tight spot," said a student, adding that the college never stressed on hands-on experience.
Another student said, "We have to check patients free of charge and even pay them for coming to us. We often have to negotiate with them. Realising that we need them, these patients even bill us the travel cost of coming to the college."
College dean Sanjay Nilawar said the students may not have got patients from the hospital's OPD. "Sometimes, patients relating to some specific topics are not available in the OPD. Otherwise, it is regular practice that students take patients from the hospital's OPD for their practicals," he said.
According to the DCI norms for the BDS final year practical exams, it is mandatory for colleges to provide patients for each student (3rd and 4th year). "The college needs to have 350-400 patients every day in its OPD to cater to the 100-seat BDS and MDS courses," an executive member of the DCI said.
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