DENTISTRY

 Few takers for dentistry, 243 seats vacant after 4th round

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad : While all undergraduate seats in the medical, ayurveda and homeopathy courses have been filled in the current intake, it appears that there are few takers for dentistry. 

After three online admission rounds, 289 dental seats remained vacant. To fill these, a fourth round was held on Wednesday for which 500 students were called. At the end of it, 243 seats were still vacant. 

The Admission Committee for Professional Undergraduate Medical Educational Courses (ACPUGMEC) has handed these vacant se- ats back to the colleges who can now admit students on their own. 

Last year, 445 dental seats had gone vacant at the end of the admissions process. Sources said this suggests that interest in dentistry is waning. 

At the beginning of the fourth round of admissions, 1,086 seats were vacant: 418 dental seats, 234 in ayurveda and 434 in homeopathy. After including the seats for which students cancelled admissions, the number of empty seats rose to 1,244, for which 8,154 students provided their preferences. 

The committee will now not allow students who have confirmed admissions in MBBS, ayurveda and homeopathy courses to cancel their admissions.