This article is to give post-graduates in OBG a general idea of what career options are there after post-graduation in OBG of obtaining a Diploma in Reproductive Medicine. So, the saying that OBG is no longer a terminal branch has become an old one now. Just like medicine and surgery, you're also supposed to do some kind of sub-specialisation degree in obstetrics gynaecology also. Apart from being able to practise general OBG, you should be able to practise one of these, either gynaecologic oncology, reproductive medicine, maternal foetal medicine and or you know along with all these, you should also have a good idea of endoscopic surgery, laparoscopies, and hysteroscopies. There are various courses available in India. There are Fellowship in Reproductive Medicine, MCH degree, DNVSS degree, FNV degree. The easiest way to pursue one of these super speciality courses is to take one of the national level entrance exams, which are NEET-SS, FET, INI-SSET.
· NEET-SS, it is a once-a-year exam with 150 questions. If you qualify this MCQ based exam, you can apply for a seat in MCH, in gynaecologic oncology or reproductive medicine at various institutes in the country. The exam, as I said, is an MCQ based exam.
It is one paper for both the fields, which means whether you want oncology or you want reproductive medicine, you have to do the same preparation. It's only after result that you can decide which college or which subject you want to opt for, just like your pre-PG entrance tests. According to the brochure, the exam consists of 150 questions from general OBG.
Unlike earlier, it's not divided into what number of questions will come from each subspecialty. They've just said that 150 questions from general OBG covering the subspecialties of reproductive medicine, foetal medicine, not much on foetal medicine, covering the subspecialties of reproductive medicine and gynecologic oncology will be there. So accordingly, this year's paper, there was a vast difference from what was asked in the previous papers. The previous papers covered theoretical questions from Diploma in IVF and Reproductive Medicine.
· And then the next exam you have is FET, fellowship entrance test. If you qualify, if you qualify this exam, you are eligible for seats in FNB in reproductive medicine and maternal foetal medicine. These are two-year courses, unlike the MCH courses, which are three-year courses. So FNB is two-year course, which is approved by NACT board. It is fellowship in national board. So here you again, you have one paper for both the fields.
There are 100 questions and here they have divided it. They have said that there will be 40 questions from general OBG, 30 questions from reproductive medicine and 30 questions from maternal foetal medicine. So this is how this year's paper was like. There were questions in reproductive medicine and maternal foetal medicine also. So again, whether you want reproductive medicine or maternal foetal medicine, you have to do the same preparation. It is only after the result that you will be able to decide because there is one paper for both the subspecialties. 100 questions are there, around 700 to 800 students take this exam every year. So there's not much competition.
Institutes of National Importance would be JIPMA, PGI, I think PGI is also there in it, AIMS, all these institutes. But currently, the seats in reproductive medicine and gynecologic oncology are only there at AIMS. So for INI SSET, for qualifying for a seat at AIMS, MCH in gynecologic oncology or DM in reproductive medicine, you have to take this INI SSET exam, which is a two-stage exam.
Stage one is MCQ based exam. There are going to be 80 questions. And here the syllabus is more manageable because there are two papers for the two fields. For gynecologic oncology, you will get 80 MCQs out of which 10 to 20 will be from general OBG and the remaining from gynecologic oncology and for reproductive medicine, those 10 to 20 questions from general OBG will be same and the remaining will be from reproductive medicine. This is the stage one. If you qualify stage one, you will be called for the stage two, which is departmental assessment. So, this is where students from AIMS have a higher chance because it is like an internal exam for them. Throughout theses years, it has been easier for people from AIMS to qualify for AIMS exams, AIMS DM and AIMS MCH seats.
Contrary to this very popular belief, this year's topper was actually not from AIMS, had never been to AIMS. She was an ardent student of learning. She had got such good marks in the theory paper, the MCQ paper, that despite her departmental assessment being not so good, she still got rank one and she had 10 marks more than what the second marker had scored. So, if you are a student of AIMS, yes, this is the exam that you have to aim for. If you're not and if you're confident, you're still confident of your subject, the subject that you want to choose, then it is good to give it a try. Also, if you're not very sure that you'll get a seat, this exam is a good practise exam. It's a twice a year exam, gives you good practise, prepares you well. It's like a nationwide mock test that you can have.
So these are the three exams that you can take. There are also other exams which institutes themselves conduct, like there are foetal medicine fellowships for which you will have to. Now, this needs a lot of research work to be done on your part to find out which all exams are there.
There's an exam conducted by Jitmer also for fellowship in gynaecologic oncology. So, there are a lot of such exams. There are fellowships provided by hospitals too.
One such IVF treatment centre in Bangalore is Dr. Kamini Rao Hospitals (a unit of Medline Academics Pvt. Ltd.). The hospital is the clinical wing of Medline Academics, an institution known for providing hybrid courses in Reproductive Medicine. Successfully training over 300+ specialists in a year, this institution has gained a worldwide reputation for it standard of training and affiliation with reputed universities. Besides offering the Fellowship in Reproductive Medicine and Embryology, they also offer multiple short-term certifications which are beneficial for career growth.
The clinical wing, Dr. Kamini Rao Hospitals gives an opportunity to all its students for an observation under expert mentors for the most difficult procedures. At times, they even get an opportunity to do the cases along with them. For over 4 decades, Dr. Rao has been training students who are now demanded specialists practicing in top IVF centres across India and of course globally.
Apart from that, since we're discussing about careers in OBG, I would also like to highlight that endoscopy is a very important field in obstetrics and gynaecology. And whether you do subspecialisation in oncology, reproductive medicine or maternal foetal medicine, you should still be able to do laparoscopic surgeries and hysteroscopies. So now when you decide that whether you want to take one of these branches, also have a plan of how you're going to learn laparoscopy.
Comments
0 comment