We will all agree that Class XII is the most crucial stage in the life of a student. The results of  plus 2 examination is a major decision making factor in a student’s career. Most students who prefer taking science are ambitious about becoming a doctor or an engineer. Getting admission for engineering may not be a big challenge any more, but getting admission for medical course or even dental course is certainly a big challenge till date. This is because of the limited seats in colleges run by government hospitals and the exorbitant fees charged by private hospitals. It can be understood if these students opt for physiotherapy, occupation therapy, nursing or pharmacy. But it is surprising to see that students who have aspired to become doctors suddenly change their track to BSc (IT) or even BMS and BMM, when they don’t do very well in their CET. This surely is not a matter of criticism towards the students. They do so because these are some of the popular options available to them easily. It is basically lack of awareness amongst the students and also parents about the opportunities in streams which are allied to medical science.

Paramedical technology is one such field which falls under allied medical science. Paramedical technology, as we know is that field of science which assist doctors in treating the patients. It relates to diagnosis, treatment and cure. When we talk about paramedical science, it includes a horde of activities related to medical science. It ranges from physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy to laboratory technology, imaging technology, anaesthesia technology or even optometry technology. Although physiotherapy is a paramedical science, a physiotherapist is referred to as doctor. On the contrary some paramedical professionals are referred to as technicians or technologists. Who are these paramedical technicians/technologists? These are professionals in a hospital who assist doctors in either diagnosing the condition of a patient or in treating the patients. One may then wonder, if these technicians are nurses. But it is not so. While nursing is one department in a hospital, there are some other departments like pathology, radiology, cardiology, neurology etc, where you won’t see the ladies in white dress but you will see men and women wearing a laboratory coat while serving the patients. These paramedical technicians are specialized in- depth workers in a particular stream, working on high technology equipment, unlike nurses who have a general exposure to all streams in a hospital.

For students aspiring to make a career in allied medical science, the field of paramedical technology is an emerging one. Healthcare Industry on the whole is on a boom and is creating employment opportunities on a large scale world-wide. Those interested in working in the area of paramedical technology can opt for courses like Diplomas in Medical laboratory technology, Medical imaging technology, Operation theatre technology, Anaesthesia and critical technology, Renal dialysis technology, Optometry technology, etc.. These courses are typically a 2-year programme after Class 12th. There are very few Institutes/ Universities which offer a degree in these courses. To name a few - MGM University, YCMOU etc. The degree programmes vary from duration of 3 to 4 years. At certain institutes, like the Kohinoor College of Paramedical Sciences, which offer advanced autonomous Diplomas in Paramedical technology, you have an option of doing this course while pursuing your BSc Degree. The advantage of doing this is that you gain employment opportunities after completion of the diploma and you also have an opportunity to study further after graduation. Students should be careful while selecting the institute for doing a course in paramedical technology. A caution statement for students is that, they should do these courses from an institute which provides enough hand on experience in the related department. This is because all these courses are skilled based with lot of techniques involved. Having a hospital attached to the institute is certainly an added advantage.

PwC reports that the Indian healthcare industry is growing at a CAGR of 15 per cent and is expected to touch US$ 250 billion by 2020. The diagnostic market is growing at a fast pace and according to PwC there are about 40,000 laboratories in India. This segment is forecasted to grow to $17 billion by 2021 from $3.4 billion in 2011. As the cost of procedures in India is much less than that compared to most of the foreign countries, and also the waiting period for procedure is very high compared to the western countries, there is a growing trend of Medical Tourism in the country. Around 75 per cent of the total revenue of the healthcare industry in India is from Hospitals and Diagnostics. A trend, of affluent corporate setting up hospitals and providing state-of-the-art facilities to the patients is seen in our country. These hospitals have huge accommodation capacities thus creating employment opportunities within the country. There is a heavy shortfall of allied healthcare professionals in India as of date. With the increasing number of hospital bed and increasing number of diagnostic facilities that is forecasted to be added in the future this gap will further widen. Looking at the economic scenario in the healthcare industry in India it is evident that there is a need for trained manpower in this segment. This will be possible if education Institutions, Universities and Boards increase the number of training facilities in the field of allied medical sciences. States like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are still lagging behind in developing manpower needed to work as allied healthcare professionals.

Career opportunities after completing these courses
Due to advancement in technology and sophistication in operations of healthcare industry, there is a great need of educated paramedical technologists in the country today. With the increase in the number of hospital beds, the demand for these technologists is going up in order to maintain the bed per manpower ratio.  Job opportunities for paramedical professionals range from employment in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, diagnostic centres, pharmaceutical companies, equipment manufacturing companies, etc.