14,330 Students appear for PGET

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Competition is stiff; three colleges given deemed varsity status

3,000 additional students take exam this year

167 dental, 94 medical diploma seats on offer

BANGALORE: Over 14,330 students, seeking admission to postgraduate medical degree and diploma courses, and dental degree courses in various private colleges across the State, appeared for the Post Graduate Entrance Test (PGET) conducted by the Consortium for Medical Engineering and Dental Colleges-Karnataka (COMED-K), here on Sunday.

However, with three colleges being conferred deemed university status last year, and subsequently pulling out of the consortium, the tightrope act for medical seat aspirants has become tough. The number of seats has been reduced by nearly 40 in each of these disciplines.

S. Kumar, secretary of the COMED-K told The Hindu that given that 3,000 more students had taken the examination this year, the competition would be stiff.

JSS Medical College, Mysore, Siddhartha Medical College, Tumkur, and A.B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences will now conduct independent admission processes. There are 167 dental seats, 94 medical diploma seats and 168 medical degree seats on offer in nine medical colleges this year.

Vinutha Sarangi, a doctor who wrote the examination in Bangalore, said that it was a lengthy examination and it was tougher than the examination conducted last week by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS).

The RGUHS conducted the State-level examination for admission into government colleges and seats under government quota on Sunday last.

The answer keys for the examination were published the same day and the last date for receiving objections is February 14.

The rank list is due to be published on February 28.