She said: “What is the need to increase seats in the country’s medical colleges? If we cannot maintain quality, provide professors, or appoint good teachers, then how will good doctors be produced? Therefore, we must think about these issues, and we are trying to do so.”
The health adviser made these remarks while speaking to journalists on Friday morning at Dhaka Residential College Center after inspecting the MBBS course admission test.
She further said that it is not possible to produce good doctors without improving the standards of medical colleges.
This year, 135,261 applications were submitted for medical admissions.
Including quotas, there are 5,380 available seats in government medical colleges.
This means that, on average, 25.14 candidates will compete for each seat in the admission test.
In the 2023–24 academic year, 104,044 students applied for the same number of seats, with 19.34 candidates competing per seat.
Thus, the number of candidates per seat has increased by six this year.
According to the Directorate General of Medical Education (DGME), there are 110 medical colleges in the country.
Among them, 37 are government colleges, and 67 are private colleges.
Additionally, there is one Armed Forces Medical College and five private army medical colleges.
Admission to government medical colleges is based on merit, with top-ranking students securing spots in the best colleges.
This year, 5,380 students will get admission to government colleges, while 6,295 students will secure seats in private medical colleges.