Brain drain of dentists from Kerala to Britain

In an attempt to fulfill the shortage of Dentists in Britain, many Indian dentists, particularly those in Kerala, are busy training for an examination that could get them jobs abroad.

Amit Patel, joint managing director of the Karnataka-based Manipal Bapuji Postgraduate Medical (& Dental) Faculty Pvt. Ltd (MBPMF), said there were close to 4,000 vacancies of dentists in Britain.

"India is one country which the National Health Service in the UK look towards because the dentistry course (in our country) is almost similar to the one there," Patel told IANS.

MBPMF is perhaps the only training organisation in the country that provides courses for dentists to take the three part international qualifying exam (IQE) for getting a Britain-approved license.

The courses, which began in February this year, are taught at Manipal in Karnataka. "Our fifth batch of training for the IQE is beginning in December. Since February, 270 dentists have undergone the training, of which 18 have already got jobs in UK," Patel told IANS on phone.

Many of those enrolling for the course are from Kerala, which is known to send a large number of health professionals abroad.

"A good number of the dentists who have taken the training so far are Keralites," said Patel.

Since the IQE has three parts, it usually takes close to a year for any dentist to qualify. To write each part of the IQE, the candidate has to go to Britain.

Sudhin K. Thomas, a post-graduate dentist and a faculty member at a private dental college in Uttar Pradesh who has just completed training for the first part, said the course was excellent.

Reports indicate that the pass percentage of those who have attended the course at MBPMF is close to 80 percent.

The training fee for the first part is Rs.120,000, for the second part Rs.155,000 and for the final Rs.200,000.