Odisha’s Jay Kishore Pradhan cracked the NEET earlier this year and enrolled as a first-year MBBS student like thousands of other aspirants from the state. The only thing that sets him apart? That he is 64 years old and a retired banker. But that did not discourage him.
Pradhan’s feat is being described as a rare event in India’s medical education history. “It is one of the rare events in the history of medical education in the country. Pradhan has set an example by getting admission as a medical student at such an age,” VIMSAR Director Lalit Meher said.
Pradhan was assisting his daughters for medical entrance preparations and was very good in the subjects which had led his daughters to ask him to consider sitting for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), which does not have an upper age limit.
The recent death of one of his twin daughters motivated him to sit for NEET and enroll in the MBBS course to become a doctor, the Bargarh resident said. “I am determined to continue study medicine in memory of my daughter,” he said.
Pradhan, who is likely to be 70 by the time his MBBS course is complete, said that age, too, is just a number for him and he does not intend to earn from practicing. With the noblest intentions in his heart, he says, “I want to serve the people till I am alive.”
