More than 800 students along with their parents participated in the ‘Pre-Counselling Guidance for CET and COMED-K’ organised by Deccan Herald and Prajavani at the Jaganmohan Palace, here on Wednesday.
Eminent professionals such as Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) Director Dr A S Bawa, Cheluvamba Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Krishnamurthy B, M S Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore, Associate Prof Dr N Kishore Alva, Maharaja’s Institute of Technology (MIT) Founder Dr Y T Krishnegowda, Acharya Institute of Technology Principal Dr H T Maheshappa and Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) PRO Narasimhamurthy participated in the programme.
The beginning
Addressing parents and students, DFRL Director Dr A S Bawa said that graduation is only the starting point in life. Pointing out that it acts as a springboard to achieve greater things in life, Dr Bawa said that along with education it was necessary to hone soft skills during the course.
Mentioning that education is a never ending process, he said that students can learn better provided they have an open mind.
Advocating the need to be positive, he said that working hard continuously will lead to success. He advised students that people are prone to stress and tension, once negativity sets into their mindset.
Medicine?
Proclaiming that medical profession is a noble career choice, Cheluvamba Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Krishnamurthy B said that there is no unemployment hurdles.
Saying it was not prone to recession as compared to engineering and other sectors, he said that the country needs more than six lakh medical professionals.
Even though every year more than 35,000 students graduate, he said that the country was capable of absorbing a large number of doctors.
Adding to the nobility, he said that doctors can earn a minimum of ` 50,000 salary per month in urban areas. However, with ratio of patients to doctors being one lakh to one in rural areas, he said that quacks without any qualification are earning many times more.
However, he was quick to add that medical profession was more of a ‘mission than a career’.
He said that doctors often have to let go of sleep to treat their patients.
Students have to complete the four-and-half-year course and one year internship to graduate in the profession, he added.
M S Ramaiah Medical College Associate Professor Dr N Kishore Alva said that the COMED-K process involves Verification, Registration, Seat Selection, Obtaining the allotment order and paying the fees at the bank counter.
Alternatives to medical and dental courses, include B P T (Physiotherapy), B Pharma and D Pharma (Pharmacy), B Sc (Medical Lab Technology), B Sc (Radiology), B Sc (Anaesthesia Technology), B Sc (Perfusion Technology) and many others, he added.
Engineering?
MIT Founder Dr Y T Krishnegowda advised students to stick to the core branches such as Electrical, Mechanical and Civil Engineering during Bachelor of Engineering.
He said that advantage of taking core branches during B E was that students can move into other areas such as Computer Science during their post graduation. He urged students to set goals of pursuing their post graduation in IITs.
The Printers (Mysore) Private Limited General Manager (Circulation) S Shivaramakrishna and others were present.
Advise to parents
During the ‘Pre-Counselling Guidance for CET and COMED-K’, valuable advise to parents and students are listed below.
- Congratulate your kids for whatever they have scored.
- Visit as many professional colleges as you can before trying for admission and look out for the infrastructure.
- View the profiles of professors and faculty members in colleges.
- Try to get admissions to core branches such as electrical, mechanical and civil engineering.
- Don’t buy motorbikes for children.
- Don’t buy kids a computer. Even if you do, make sure it is kept in a place where it is visible to everyone in the family.
- After gaining admission to professional courses, ensure that parents visit the college on a regular basis.
Procedure
- Ranks are listed based on marks secured in II PUC and CET.
- For engineering courses, general merit students have to secure 50 per cent in PUC, while SC/ST/OBC need to have secured 45 per cent.
- For medical and dental courses, general merit students need to have scored 50 per cent, while SC/ST/OBC should have scored 40 per cent.
- Each student will have four ranks - one rank for medical and dental, one for engineering, one for architecture and one for ISHM courses.
- CET counselling centres have been set-up Bangalore, Hubli, Chitradurga, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Shimoga and Belgaum.