KARSTEN MIRANDA
karsten@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Dr Analise D’Mello secured an impressive rank of 38 at the highly-competitive NEET SS 2022 exam and got a seat for Mch Gynecologic Oncology at the prestigious Regional Cancer Centre in Trivandrum Kerala – a government institute with excellence in surgical and academic training, one of the best in the country.
Dr Analise, the daughter of Augusto Sigmaringa Melo and Lira Menezes e Melo from Verna, is now amongst a handful of doctors to pursue the subject as an McH degree in India from Goa. This (McH) degree is considered the highest master’s degree in Surgical Science.
For perspective, NEET SS is the eligibility entrance test for super specialty courses in medical and surgical subjects for post graduate degree doctors. In September 2022, 1,5000 specialist doctors attempted the exam and 689 in the subject of Obstetrics and Gynaecology for super speciality courses of gynecologic oncology and reproductive medicine.
The course provides training in acquiring special expertise in the field of gynecological oncology – cancers of the cervix, cancers of the uterus, tubo ovarian cancers, vaginal and vulval cancers.
“I am thrilled to achieve the entry to pursue my dream branch at the college of such repute as this is a fairly new field and very few gynecologists from Goa have ventured into the field hence my limited exposure to the same. It took persistent hard work to crack this exam especially since no Goan has pursued the degree before in India leading to lack of guidance and the exam pattern was very different this year,” said Dr Analise.
“I thank and owe my success to Lord Almighty and my parents for their unwavering support and inspiration. I thank the mentors I followed from online platforms who helped me strengthen my knowledge for the exam and guided me how to achieve this goal. A special thank you to my oncology patients at Goa Medical College whose resilience inspired me to pursue this branch even more,” she added.
Dr Analise who studied at Presentation Convent High School, Margao joined MBBS in 2006, after which she did her MS in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Goa Medical College (GMC). She then worked as a senior resident at GMC and as an Assistant professor at Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences. She also did her fellowship in Laparoscopy and endoscopy in 2021. Furthermore, in November 2022, she completed her Membership of Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (MRCOG) exam conducted by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in the United Kingdom in November 2022.
“Since Goa has very few trained oncosurgeons with the Mch degree, I decided to pursue the same. Yes, Goa does have miles to go before we reach the standard of care in oncology but a well-trained specialist can be a boon to the patients,” she added.
