Outsiders bag top 10 COMEDK ranks

The top 10 ranks in the postgraduate medical and dental entrance tests conducted by the Consortium of Medical Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (COMEDK) have been bagged by students from outside the State this year.

COMEDK announced the results of the PGET, conducted on February 2, here on Friday.
According to a COMEDK release, as many as 16,856 candidates had applied for the medical entrance test, out of which 7,587 students have been declared eligible for seat selection. A total of 4,723 candidates applied for the Dental PG test, out of which 3,711 candidates have become eligible.

The minimum percentage required for eligibility to seat selection is 50 in the qualifying examination, as per the regulations of the Medical Council of India.

The top rank in Medical has been bagged by Takasi Anush Babu, a student from Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. Speaking to Deccan Herald, Babu, who was travelling to Bangalore to write the JIPMER entrance test to be held on February 23, said he was completely surprised by the results. “I thought it would be within 30. But I did not expect to top the exam,” said an elated Babu.

He is not only the first doctor in his family, but the first to graduate as well. His father is a florist and his mother a housewife. Babu said he would choose radiology.

“It is still an upcoming branch. There is a lot of opportunity for super-specialisation in radiology.” He said he was looking at either M S Ramaiah College or JJM Davangere. He completed MBBS also in Karnataka from K S Hegde Medical College in Mangalore.

In the Dental stream, Kothapalli Manasa from Visakhapatnam has emerged the topper. A student of Gitam Dental College in Vizag, she found the results an unexpected turn of events.

“I had come to a coaching centre in Bangalore to prepare for the Andhra Pradesh PG exam. I just gave COMEDK a shot. I did not think I would get the top rank!”

Manasa said she has still not decided on a specialisation and would probably consider orthodontics. As far as Karnataka is considered as a choice, the candidate felt the quality of institutes here was much better than those in her home state.

Catherine Diana P, a candidate from Madurai, who has got the second rank in COMEDK Dental, has got a top score in the NEET as well. With an All India Rank 5 in NEET, she was likely to opt for NEET counselling, she said. She wants to specialise in surgery.