STEPS INVOLVED IN BECOMING A DOCTOR IN INDIA

1. Meet the eligibility criteria

A student must have passed 10+2 Science stream (with Physics, Chemistry and Biology
subjects) to be considered eligible to pursue MBBS course.

Before applying for admission, make sure that you have the minimum educational
qualifications required to pursue this course.

2. Appear for relevant entrance tests

To get into a reputed medical institute, it is necessary to appear for and crack relevant
entrance tests. Some of the prominent medical entrance tests in India are – NEET, AIIMS,
AFMC, State-wise entrance tests and institute-wise entrance tests.

3. Apply for admission

If you satisfy the eligibility criteria and have scored valid marks in a relevant entrance test,
move on to step 3 – apply for admission. Admission process may vary from one state to
another.

4. Complete the course

After gaining admission into a good college, complete the academic program successfully.
After completing 4.5 years classroom training and 1 year rotating internship, you will earn
the title of ‘Doctor’.

Though MBBS Degree is enough to practice as a Doctor in India, it is not the end of the road.
Nowadays, it is necessary to pursue and complete Postgraduate courses such as – MS, MD
and PGDM programs (to boost one’s career prospects).

You may also earn the title ‘Doctor’ through the following courses also – BDS (Dentistry),
BAMS (Ayurveda), BHMS (Homeopathy), BUMS (Unani), B.V.Sc. & AH (Veterinary Science),
Pharm D, BPT (Physiotherapy), BOT (Occupational Therapy), PhD programs etc.

5. After MBBS

Pursuing Higher Studies - While this is the commonly chosen route, the choice to be made

here is whether to go for traditional specializations on offer or new age specializations that

are still upcoming; whether to pursue post graduation in India or abroad. Some of the
options have been clearly specified below.
1. Traditional Specializations after MBBS:

With regard to what after MBBS, the most common choice of many students is pursuing

specialization in their area of interest. In this too, the most popular choice of course is an

MD/MS or a Diploma in Medicine. In India, admissions to MD/MS are conducted through a

few common PG entrance exams which include NEET PG, AIIMS PG, JIPMER PG exam

and PGIMER. The specializations offered under MD (Doctor of Medicine), MS (Master of

Surgery) and other diploma programmes.

2. Upcoming courses in Medical Sciences and Technology- A very upcoming stream that is

in high demand, Masters in Medical Sciences and Technology imparts skills that combine
sciences and engineering to doctors to train them for the state-of-the-art medical research

in a number of vital areas such as Medical Imaging, Molecular Imaging and Image Analysis,

Biomaterials and Implants, Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cells, Medical Statistics,

Telemedicine, Biomedical Instrumentation, Early Detection of Cancer, Immuno-technology,

Clinical Biomarkers, Biosensors, Recombinant DNA Technology, regenerative medicine,

Biomedical Simulation.

3. Options Abroad: MBBS graduates can also opt to go abroad for further studies in
medicine. There are different processes to pursue higher studies in different countries. For

example, the USA has USMLE for PG aspirants; PLAB is for pursuing higher studies in UK

while the Australia Medical Council has AMC exams. All of these facilitate the process of

higher studies in the respective countries as well as job opportunities after course
completion.