North Bengal Medical College, Darjeeling Infrastructure: Library, Hostel, Labs, Gym, Auditorium & Other Facilities

College Infrastructure & Hostel Facilities : The hostel options are many for an outstation student, there are three girls hostels and three boys hostels in North Bengal Medical College. The hostel fee is Rs. 12 per month for boys hostel and Rs. 8 per month for the girl's hostel. The options for a PG accommodation is limited but if sought could be an upwards of Rs. 4,000 per month. The per meal cost of the hostel mess is around Rs. 30. The quality of the mess food is not something a person can fill a stomach every day as is the situation with most hostel messes in colleges. The lecture theatres of my college have a high capacity to accommodate more students than there are in any batch some of which are air conditioned, anatomy halls practical laboratories of the pre-clinical subjects are present and are subject to Medical council of India visits, and as of now another lecture theatre is in the construction along with an auditorium and a Post- graduate students' hostel for boys and girls. Wifi has been made available to us from this year itself.

Entrance Exams & Admissions : I am studying MBBS in North Bengal Medical College which is in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. Since it is a Government medical college, I got a seat through the NEET- UG 2013 exam which was a national entrance exam that year. My General category rank was near about 900 or so in the State level. The eligibility criteria for the entrance exam as a General category student was a minimum of 50% in the Higher secondary examination. A medical college as such doesn't have any cut-offs as regards to the higher secondary level exam because of the entrance exam.

Placements & Internships : The One-year compulsory rotatory Internship is after completing the full course of MBBS studies in North Bengal Medical College. The stipend can vary from State to State and year depending upon the Pay commission, but currently, the internship stipend is Rs. 18,500 per month.

Fees & Scholarships : The course fee in North Bengal Medical College per semester is Rs. 4,500. The exam fee is Rs. 600 per subject not exceeding Rs. 2,000 as of now. Scholarships are available to an SC/ST student and those belonging to the minority section after furnishing documents about the financial status of the students. Loans are not needed mostly, but if so required they can be availed from SBI, ICICI banks usually after salary statements of the family, it is quite a lengthy procedure and more than often doesn't work out if you want a loan of a lesser sum than most other education loans.

Academics & Faculty : The class timings in North Bengal Medical College are usually from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm from Monday to Saturday depending upon the subjects in that year and with a lunch time from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm. The ward classes can begin as early as 7 am. The classes are of utmost importance to a medical student especially the ward postings which are scheduled from before and taken seriously. My overall experience is something that I would like to equate in terms of exposure to the medical field, which if utilized properly in this college can be very engrossing to an eager student or a trainee and provide useful field knowledge and experience for the future as a doctor.

Clubs & Associations : There are no clubs or student societies in North Bengal Medical College. There are many sports events like football, cricket, volleyball for the boys and occasionally a throwball for the girls and badminton. The boys hostels have a gymnasium too and there is a gym in the college itself for both men and women of the college, that is inclusive of proffessors and other teaching staff. An annual festival is held in our college PLASMA in the month of September, which is a highlighted event of our college and very well attended because of the band performances, competitions and otherwise fun and frolic. There is an alumni organised reunion for the college alumni called Nostalgia , which too is a fun event for the passed out students and teachers to come back to the college and take part in activities like dance, musi, drama etc. The life in college in general they can give you a mixed experience depending on your expectations.