BDS Course : Duration, Pattern, Eligibility, Fees, etc

What Is BDS Course?

BDS full form is Bachelors of Dental sciences, which is an undergraduate course in the healthcare sector. It is one of the most looked after profession after MBBS. This course provides all the training in dental medicine and surgery.

BDS course duration is five years. This includes 4 years of learning theoretical and practical skills and 1 year is compulsory rotatory internship. There is a total of 26,949 BDS seats and 313 BDS colleges which includes all the government, private and deemed institutes. The seats in these colleges are divided into All India Quota seats (15%) and State Quota seats (85%).

The entrance exam to all the medical college is though NEET-UG which is conducted annually in the month of May in offline mode. For more information about the exam refer to NEET-UG overview.

BDS Course 2024 entrance Exam Pattern

• It is a Multiple-Choice Question based exam which is conducted in offline mode.
• The question paper comprises of total 200 questions out of which students have to attempt 180 questions of their own choice.
• There are 3 main subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) which are further divided into sections.

The marking scheme is +4 for correct answers and -1 for incorrect answers.

BDS Course 2024 Eligibility

• The minimum age of applicant must be 17 years as of 31 December 2024.
• The upper limit is 25 years as on May 5 with an exemption of 5 years for SC/ST/OBC.
• Applicant must have pursued Physics, Chemistry, Biology as their subjects in 12 and passed with 50% in each subject.
• Applicant must have completed their 12th or will be completing 12th by 2024 from a recognized board or open school.
• Applicants must be a citizen of India, Non-Resident of India, Person of Indian Origin or Foreign National.
• The admissions are given on the basis of merit and the cutoff decided for that particular year.

BDS Course 2024 Curriculum

BDS Course has a four-year extensive syllabus divided into 3 phases according to the type of subjects

• Pre-clinical subjects: Anatomy, Biochemistry and Physiology.
• Para clinical subjects: Pathology, Microbiology, Dental Materials, Conservative Dentistry, Prosthodontics and Crown.
• Clinical subjects: General Medicine, Surgery, Pathology, Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, Paediatric dentistry, Periodontology.

After these 4 years, there is 1 year of compulsory rotatory internship. In this period, students experience one on one interaction with the patients. They will be taught how to give psychological support to the patients and their relatives, how to handle critical conditions. The internship is divided in different departments:

Only after these 4 years of curriculum and 1 year of internship, the graduates earn an MCI recognized practicing license and registration certificate. In case if a student is unable to fulfil his/her internship and retrieves his admission then he/she is subjected to penalty which is decided by the particular university.

BDS Course 2024

BDS Course Fees 2024

• For government colleges: 50,000 - 2,00,000
• For semi-government colleges: 2,00,000 - 4,00,000
• For private or deemed to be university: 7,50,000 - 10,00,000.

Scope of BDS Course 2024

In the recent times, the scope of BDS and other healthcare sectors has increased 10 folds. There are increasing number of opportunities in this sector given the number of diseases and infections. There are various sectors like government, public, laboratories, emergency rooms, community healthcare centres and private practice. The major recruiting agencies for BDS candidates are Apollo Health Industries, Sun Pharma Industries, Fortis Healthcare, Zydus Healthcare etc.

The dental graduates can pursue the following arenas after their under-graduation course:

• Medical Officer: The doctors who are in charge of clinics. Such physicians provide medical assistance, problem detection and illness control.
• General Physician: Doctors who research, diagnose and treats patients. They provide a variety of non-surgical medical attention.
• Medical coder: They are graduates who are in charge of converting physician reports into meaningful medical codes.
• NGO workers: Doctors can work in any NGO and provide services for old age patients and earn a good experience.

Courses after BDS

Medical graduates can pursue a variety of higher studies:

• MDS: Specialization in dental studies and surgery in various fields related to teeth, jaw and other facial tissues.
• Public services: Medical graduates can also apply for public services like IAS, IPS, IFS etc.
• Public Health: Many students opt for Masters in Public Health which deals with epidemiology, Healthcare management biostatistics etc.
• MBA in Hospital Administration: the graduates who are interested in management related career opt for MBA.
• Public services: Medical graduates can also apply for public services like IAS, IPS, IFS etc.