A small look into Indian education

Today Donna and I had the chance to go to the apartment of two of the doctors at the hospital (one pediatrician and one cardiac surgeon). Donna and I were talking to the pediatrician today, and after talking for a bit she invited us over to her house after work for a little bit so we could see he inside of an Indian home. It was really nice to relax a bit after work before heading home, and we were able to learn a little bit more about how doctors are trained here.

Indian doctors and American doctors end up spending about the same amount of time in training. The difference is when they decide to become doctors. In India, students finish 10 years of regular schooling before going off to what essentially amounts to two years of junior college. Already, students have to start deciding what area they intend on going into. Tracks are divided up into several major tracks including commerce and science. For someone who wants to go into medicine, certain courses (such as biology) are required. 

At the end of those two years, students apply for medical school, and spend four and a half years doing course work, followed by a year-long internship. They graduate with MD's, and if they don't get accepted to a residency, they can go into general practice (usually at a more rural hospital). After getting their MD, they do a three year residency program (which is not paid), followed by several more years where they can subspecialize in something. 

Americans have a distinct advantage over this system in that they can make a more informed decision about what they want to go into after college. On the other hand, Indians get much more focused training for a longer period of time, arguably making them more qualified than us. The Indian doctors here are all very good, and while they have limited resources compared to American doctors, I would have no trouble trusting my care to any one of the doctors we've met here.