Bhubaneswar, June 25: As many as 2, 521 students from the state have found place in the list of the All-India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT).

These students are eligible to take admission into medical colleges across the country under the 15 per cent all-India quota. Besides, they will also be entitled to the domicile quota, which is 85 per cent. The state has 650 MBBS and 150 BDS seats. Depending on their ranks, they will be eligible to take admission in any of the three government and three private medical colleges of the state.

Counselling in the first phase will be held for a total of 800 seats, including 650 MBBS seats and 150 BDS seats, according to joint director of the department of medical education and training Umakanta Satpathy. Although around 35,000 students had appeared in the AIPMT, only about 2,000 students have registered for the counselling of the national medical entrance test. The last day of registration for counselling was today.

An official in the department termed it as a “regular trend”.

“Students usually appear for multiple entrance exams, including those of medical and engineering. The decision of taking part in a medical counselling usually depends on their ranks as the number of seats is very limited. Also a large number of students prefer engineering to medical,” said another official in the department. Document verification of the registered candidates will commence from tomorrow and continue till June 28 in the three government medical colleges — SCB Medical College in Cuttack, MKCG Medical College in Berhampur and VSS Medical College at Burla. The admission process will be completed by July 3.