Paramedical Courses: The second line of healthcare

The field of medicine attracts the minds of the youth, when we talk of the vast variety of career options that are available after opting for biology. Talking about the recently passed NEET exam where the cutoff is expected to be high, complementing the shortage of seats, making admission in a college of your choice a challenging task.

With the ultimate target and orientation towards serving the nation, lakhs of students aspire to be a part of the medical field. Some make up to it very easily, but for the others, it turns out to be the harder way. Very few know of finding a way towards a bright future sticking to the medicine line.

To a student, it may seem to be the end of opportunities, but it’s simply not. We have a wide range of paramedical courses.

Why should one go for it?

  1. Very few know that a paramedic plays a crucial role whether it’s about a complete hospital setting or providing the required treatment to the patient even before reaching the hospital.
  2. It’s a job oriented, short term course with actually appreciable packages and a bright future.
  3. It’s not just a bachelor’s degree, it’s a professional course where the degree is provided after the teaching process is completed. With its increasing demand across the globe, it’s now a direct choice for many.
  4. Whether it’s about a general accident, spinal injury, burn cases or a fracture, they just don’t complement the system but is an important part of the same.
  5. Your bachelor’s degree isn’t the end to it, we have a number of diploma courses, certificate courses and the post-graduation courses too.

Eligibility: Passing the 12th exam with Science taking Biology as a subject, scoring atleast 50% marks.

But which one to go for? Read the details below and select the best.

Bachelor of physiotherapy: A physiotherapist deals with the science of physical movement and channelising it to prevent disability and diseases of movement. Physiotherapy helps people increase, maintain or restore their physical mobility, function, and strength. This science makes use of electrotherapy, exercise prescription and shockwave mobility to treat chronic conditions of the bones and soft tissues.

Duration: 4 years and a compulsory internship of 6 months.

Average fees: 30,000-50,000 in government colleges and up to 2,00,000 per annum in some of the private ones.

Admission process: Direct or exams conducted by few of the private universities.

Some of the entrance exams for admission to BPT colleges are:

1.IPU CET

2.BCECE

3.IEMJEE

4.VEE

5.LPUNEST

Significance: Here the course and the material seems more or less parallel to MBBS, more focus is towards the neurological and muscular functioning. Not only in India, has the demand of physiotherapists abruptly increased in abroad as well.

Being a part and a department in the hospital settings, the pay scale increases with your experience.

Govt. Colleges:

  1. Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay institute for the physically handicapped, Delhi
  2. All India Institute of physical medicine and rehabilitation, Mumbai
  3. National institute for locomotor disability, Kolkata
  4. SV Nirtar National institute of rehabilitation training and research
  5. Center for physiotherapy and rehabilitation sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia Delhi
  6. Patna Medical college
  7. PGIMER Chandigarh
  8. Punjabi University, Patiyala
  9. Uttar Pradesh University of medical sciences, Saifai, Uttar Pradesh

(Note: Physiotherapy is an independent profession and is not listed under the category of paramedical courses by WHO. However some of the sites on do mention it under the category of paramedical courses.)

Bachelor of occupational therapy: Occupational Therapy is the branch that deals with curing and rehabilitating the physically, emotionally and mentally disabled people. It focuses on teaching and educating them in the necessary skills needed in performing daily activities. This was earlier known as ‘Moral Treatment’.

Duration: 4 years

Average fees: 40,000- 50,000

Admission process: Direct or exams conducted by few of the private universities.

Some of the entrance exams for bachelor of occupational therapy are:

  • K.M.C.H. College of Occupational Therapy Entrance Exam
  • CMC Vellore Entrance Exam
  • Manipal University Bachelor of Occupational Therapy Entrance Exam
  • SVNIRTAR NIOH Common Entrance Test
  • All India Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AIIPMR) Entrance Exam

Significance: This course is all about curing and treating the needy, be it physically or mentally disabled people. With increasing demands of the rehabs, the course has a wide scope with a handsome package.

Government Colleges:

  • Government Medical College & Hospital, Nagpur
  • National Institute of Orthopedically Handicapped, Kolkata

Private Colleges:

  1. Manipal University
  2. Jamia University
  3. Christian Medical College

Bachelor of Radiology and imaging technology: This course helps students to familiarize with the use of a variety of sophisticated technology employed in medical imaging and cancer treatment.

Duration: 3 years

Average fees: 15,000- 1,00,000

Admission process: Direct or exams conducted by some of the private universities.

Significance: The new era has been the source to many new diseases and in order to perform all the processes successfully, a doctor needs an assistant.

Colleges:

  1. Tripura Institute Of Paramedical Sciences (TIPS), Agartala
  2. Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam
  3. Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Chandigarh
  4. University College of Medical Science and GTB Hospital, Shahadra, Delhi
  5. Christian Medical College, Vellore
  6. Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore

Bachelor Of Science (B.Sc):

This course is not only about a traditional course, it has evolved im a number of ways as various professional courses. The option of branches in this course are listed below:

1. B. Sc. Nursing: Nurses play a crucial role for the proper functioning of hospitals. They are a glue that holds a patient’s healthcare journey together.

Average fees: 10,000-1 lakh

Duration: 4 years

Admission process: Direct or exams conducted by few of the private universities.

Some of the entrance exams are:

  • NEET
  • CENTAC
  • SAAT
  • ITM NEST

Government Colleges for B.Sc. nursing:

  • All India institute of hygiene and public health
  • AIIMS Bhuvaneshwar
  • AIIMS Delhi
  • AIIMS Jodhpur
  • AIIMS Raipur
  • Allahabad state University

Almost every medical college in India consists of a nursing college too. They get graded as A, B, C depending on their qualification, experience and a number of other factors.

2. B.sc. in Anaesthesia Technology: B.Sc. in Anaesthesia Technology course is opted by students who wish to learn about anaesthesia equipment, anaesthesia agents, techniques as well as dosage in order to ensure a better monitoring of the patient.

Duration: 3 years

Admission process: Direct or exams conducted by few of the private universities.

Some of the entrance exams are:

  • NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test)
  • AICET (All India Common Entrance Test)
  • Bangalore University Entrance Exam
  • BVP CET (Bharati Vidyapeeth Common Entrance Test)
  • University of Technology Entrance Exams
  • NIMS School of Paramedical Sciences and Technology Entrance Exams

Government Colleges:

  • All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi
  • Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), UP
  • Mahatma Gandhi Mission Institute of Health Sciences (MGMIHS), Mumbai
  • Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla
  • Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune

3. B.SC. in dialysis therapy: This course offers in a wide range of application and technologies involved in the process of dialysis. The course focuses on the treatment of various diseases related to kidney and perform dialysis on patients suffering from kidney failure and require treatment for removing excess waste and fluids from their blood.

Average fee: 20,000-1 Lakh

Duration: 3 years

Admission process: Direct

Colleges:

  • AJ Institute Of Medical Science and Research Centre
  • JSS University
  • Jamia Hamdard University
  • JIPMER
  • Jawaharlal Nehru University
  • MGMIHS
  • Manipal University

4. B.SC. in Medical Lab Technology: This course is concerned with the treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of diseases using the clinical laboratory tests.

Average fee: 20,000-1 Lakh

Duration: 3 years

Admission: Direct admission

Colleges:

  • Christian Medical College
  • JIPMER
  • Chandigarh University
  • Bangalore medical college and research institute
  • NIMS University

5. B.SC. in optometry: This course involves the study of clinical skills involved in professionally measuring eyesight, prescribing corrective lenses and detecting eye diseases.

Average fees: 50,000-1 Lakh

Duration: 3 years

Admission process: Direct

Entrance exams:

  • AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) Entrance Test
  • JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University) Combined Entrance Examination
  • DU (University of Delhi) Biotechnology Entrance Examination
  • CMC (Christian Medical College) Entrance Examination
  • NEET-UG (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for Under Graduate

Colleges:

  • Christian Medical College, Vellore
  • Government medical college, Kohzikode
  • DY Patil University, Navi Mumbai
  • Jamia Hamdard University , New Delhi
  • Christian College, Bangalore

The above mentioned courses are the most popular amongst the youngsters… There are a few others that are not much popular but are an important part of our healthcare services. These are:

  1. B.SC. in nuclear medicine technology
  2. B.Sc. in medical record technology
  3. B.Sc. in medical imaging technology
  4. B.Sc. in operation theatre technology

The above mentioned courses don’t end up at a bachelor’s degree, there are diploma courses for some of them, as mentioned.

  1. Diploma in OT technology
  2. Diploma in rural health care
  3. Diploma in occupational therapy
  4. Diploma in physiotherapy
  5. Diploma in nursing care assistant
  6. Diploma in dialysis technology and many more.

The course duration for most of them ranges between 1-3 years.

The various certificate courses are as follows:

  1. X-ray technician
  2. ECG and CT scan
  3. Technician and lab assistant
  4. Nursing care technology
  5. Dental assistant
  6. HIV and family education
  7. Rural health care

Research, various fellowship programs and a lot more… The opportunities are endless, it’s just about you making the right choice. Once you excel in any field, you can fly high and reach the pinnacle of success.

A report by Sakshi Lal for IHOIK education desk with inputs from Riya Vasudeva & Aakrati Chitransh

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