Allied Healthcare (GAHC)

In a landmark decision affecting thousands of students, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has instructed all Indian universities and colleges to discontinue healthcare and allied courses through distance learning and online modes from July 2025. The decision, cleared in UGC's 592nd meeting on July 23, 2025, was to preserve the quality and sanctity of medical and allied studies in India.

UGC officials have stated that medical courses require experiential learning, laboratory exposure, and patient exposure, which cannot be done in place of online learning. The controversy was initiated while an earlier April 2025 Distance Education Bureau Working Group meeting had complained about the poor standards of practice in online medical courses.

Based on education figures, more than 1.5 million students take allied health courses every year, embracing such subjects as physiotherapy, dietetics, and medical laboratory science. The experts agree that without exposure to the practical aspects, the graduates will not be best placed for employment in clinics.

All institutes operating these programs on Open and Distance Learning (ODL) or online mode are required to suspend new admissions from the July–August 2025 session. The online courses already in place shall be made invalid, effectively stopping new admissions. 

Enrolled students in intimated online courses could be permitted to finish their courses, although the universities will have to adhere strictly to UGC guidelines. Institutions have been directed by the Commission to intimate directly modifications to students and offer choices for offline or hybrid mode.

Despite the constraint of the ban on flexibility for working professionals and e-learners, officials of UGC suggest that learning on campus facilitates better employability. Industry data reveal that 85% of hospitals seek candidates who have clinical experience and classroom training.

The UGC decision is in tune with its quality-oriented, practical healthcare education. The emphasis now is on developing work-capable, competent professionals with intensive, experiential learning as India sets itself the task of developing 2.4 million more health workers by 2030.

Hello students! Are you keen to join the healthcare profession but holding back from pursuing online courses? Shattering news just arrived with us that will ruin your dreams. India's University Grants Commission (UGC) directed all universities and colleges to refrain from presenting courses in healthcare and allied sciences as online or distance courses from July 2025. This is done to preserve the standard of education.

We will keep it easy here in this blog, give you the key facts, and help you decide what to do next. So let's begin!

Why did UGC make this rule?

UGC wants to provide students with the best possible education for healthcare careers. Such kinds of topics need practice in hands, e.g., in labs or among patients, that cannot be offered by online classes totally. The decision was taken by UGC's 592nd meeting on 23rd July 2025. Officials discussed it in an earlier April 2025 Working Group of Distance Education Bureau meeting. They fear that online modes may lead to a weakening of standards in critical fields like medicine and therapy.

Think about it: Who saves lives every day? Physicians. Over 1.5 million students pursue allied health programs annually in India, according to reports. But if the graduates lack experiential skills, they can fail. The UGC ban protects future physicians, nurses, and therapists by promoting on-campus training. 

What Courses Are Affected?

Not all online courses are out—just the healthcare and allied science ones. UGC has implemented some particular ones to avoid confusion. 

If your university was undertaking these under Open and Distance Learning (ODL) or fully online mode, they will have to close down admission from the July-August 2025 session. Already approved courses become disapproved with immediate effect, so no fresh enrolments. This affects thousands of candidates, and the estimates run up to 200,000 students getting affected in the very first year.

How Does This Affect You as a Student?

If you're thinking online healthcare studies for convenience, this ban is a blow. Most students opt for online modes since they work or reside off-campus.

E-learning grew 30% in India post-COVID outbreak, but health care complained about subpar practical training. UGC's action assures your degree is worth the paper it is printed on. Employers want graduates with real-world experience; for example, 85% of hospitals place maximum emphasis on hands-on trained hires, sector studies say.

For current students: If you are a current student of an approved online course before July 2025, you should be able to complete. But just check with your university—UGC guidelines have to be adhered to, otherwise, there are repercussions.

What's Next?

Plan ahead and pave the way. Here are easy steps to adapt to this change:

Talk to Your College: Find out whether your course is converted from off- or online to off- or online or being chopped. Open communication is expected by UGC.

Look for Alternatives: Look for opportunities on the campus in top institutes like AIIMS or state colleges. They all offer scholarships—over 50,000 seats are offered every year in allied health.

Investigate Hybrid Paths: Some non-health classes like business or IT are still online. Pair them with subsequent electives in health.

Enhance Offline: Take brief certifications or workshops in first aid. Sites like Coursera still provide free health basics but no degrees.

Get Caught Up: Bookmark the UGC site or news apps. They catch up from time to time, so things change

Odisha, an eastern Indian state, has been the nation's most-preferred Allied Health Science education hub in recent years with students from across the nation. With the impetus given by new-generation colleges, health infrastructure development, and government support, Odisha has emerged as a favored hub for learning Physiotherapy, Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology (BASLP), Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT), and similar Allied Health Science courses.

This article discusses why Odisha is becoming the most favored destination for students and why it is well-educated, has opportunities for work, and avails itself of higher-order clinical experience.

Increased Demand for Allied Health Professionals in India

Indian healthcare industry is growing at a historic pace, with an increased demand for qualified allied health professionals. With improved medical technology on the horizon and specialist medical attention in demand increasing, careers like Physiotherapy, Radiology, Optometry, and Audiology are witnessing record-breaking career opportunities.

Why Odisha is a Best Place for Allied Health Science Studies?

1. Top Institutions Availability

Odisha has the finest allied health sciences colleges which offer UG and PG courses in Physiotherapy, BASLP, MLT, Radiology, etc. AIIMS Bhubaneswar, Institute of Health Sciences (IHS), and Siksha 'O' Anusandhan University are some of the colleges offering strong academic input and practical training.

2. Top-Class Clinical Exposure with 120+ Bed Rehabilitation Centres

Institutions in Odisha like IHS Bhubaneswar possess latest rehabilitation infrastructure, which gives students real clinical exposure, internship, and real patient experience.

3. Low Cost Education & Living

Odisha offers quality education at affordable cost in comparison to other metros like Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai. Low living cost, low fee, and scholarship facility make it a favorite among the students.

4. Emerging Healthcare Industry in Odisha

With AIIMS Bhubaneswar, SUM Hospital, AMRI Hospitals, etc., quality health facilities, Odisha has emerged as a healthcare hub of Eastern India, offering improved internship and employment opportunities for Allied Health Science graduates.

5. Satisfactory Placement Rate for Graduates

Odisha Physiotherapy, BASLP, and other Allied Health Science graduates have been placed well in premium hospitals, rehabilitation units, research centers, and multinationals in the healthcare sector.

6. Government Support & Policy Initiatives

Odisha state government has endeavored greater in the field of paramedical and medical education. Greater research grants, infrastructural development, and greater career prospects in healthcare are making Odisha an increasingly viable option for medical aspirants.

Allied Health Science students of Odisha receive industry exposure in advanced hospitals, clinics, and rehabilitation facilities. IHS Bhubaneswar and other such colleges provide direct clinical exposure through corporate collaborations, research works, and internship programs to provide enhanced placement.

The basic understanding of each subject depends on the correct familiarity with the subject's key terminologies. Psychology is an enormous sea of mind-boggling data and there exist terms that one is used to overlook as similar or related merely because of habitual practice.

 In psychology, many words are incorrectly interpreted not just by first-year students but also by graduate-degree students, psychology professors, and scientists writers. These misunderstandings can prevent one from comprehending other psychology concepts. The majority of people including on social media do not pay attention to details when writing about psychology. Therefore, we have here the most confused or homonymic words in psychology that we ignore. 

Although both the professions share similar educational needs and practices, however, they are dissimilar from each other. The majority of them use the terms psychiatrist and psychologist as synonyms without becoming engaged with the subject. Psychology is the study of mind, feelings, and human behavior, a philosophical aspect of mental health that developed into a distinct profession in the mid-1800s. Psychologists apply various methods of therapy to recover their patients from mental illnesses and ensure healthy mental lives. Psychiatry, however, is a medical profession that deals solely with the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. Though psychiatrists also work as psychotherapists to help their patients, they are mostly educated to prescribe medications to treat the biological component of one's mental well-being. To become a psychologist, you must get a bachelor's degree, master's degree and if necessary, further studies up to doctorate in the field of psychology. In order to become a psychiatrist, the applicants must undergo medical school and study topics like anatomy, biology, neurology, and disease to equip themselves with the knowledge needed to prescribe medication for mental disorders. In real life, psychiatrists prescribe medicines mostly while psychologists employ talk or behavior therapy. 

The terms guidance and counseling are employed extremely frequently interchangeably in our everyday life. But technically these two psychological terms have wholly different meanings. Guidance is to advice or to supply a relevant piece of information to a person who wants to overcome trouble or problem. Counseling, however, is a little bit of professional guidance given by a counsellor to his client for helping him/her to overcome psychological or personal problems. The mere act of providing guidance is preventive and counseling is corrective with the objective of curative development. One of the fundamental differences is that in counseling the decision-making power rests with the one counseling, while in guidance the client makes decisions so that he will not be dependent on the assistance of anyone else and will have faith in his or her own abilities. In counseling, the client wants to choose the best option but in guidance, the aim is to change the mindset of the person so that he himself can find a solution.

These two words are mostly misused and mixed up most of the time by not only non-professionals but also by most practitioners. In simple terms, both methods are used to treat emotional and psychological problems in a person. Counseling is conducted by a professional therapist who conducts a one-to-one conversation with an individual or a group that allows you to explore deeper into your problems in order to identify unwanted behaviors and resolve mental health concerns such as anxiety depression, etc. That is, counseling is only recommended for specific situations or issues that are troubling and should be resolved. Psychotherapy, however, attempts to determine the underlying reasons for the issues that occurred in the past, which might be causing the current issues. Psychotherapy is more of an art than a simple session of counseling. These sessions are visited by qualified personnel who not only provide counseling but are competent enough to provide psychotherapy as well. Despite when it comes to duration of treatment, psychotherapy is a longer term therapy focused on enhancing insight into long-term physical and emotional problems.

It is a seemingly trivial concept to understand but the significance and power of these terms is in their differentiation. To say it plainly, sympathy is being emotionally invested and empathy is being mentally invested towards someone or a situation. Most authors define empathy as the capacity to share or feel the sentiments of other people. Practically, when you are empathizing you experience the same emotions like sadness, unhappiness, or distress as is the object of empathy. However, sympathy would typically refer to your sympathy or empathy for the other person. It is merely "feeling sorry" for the other person without really knowing his frame of reference. 

However, in speaking of suppression, it is merely a defense mechanism marked by conscious forgetting of unwanted material. The surprise here is that in repression your conscious self never realizes you are employing the defense mechanism but in suppression you purposely try to forget or not think about painful or unwanted thoughts. Subconscious v Unconscious

Most of you are no doubt familiar with consciousness and unconsciousness but few will probably be aware of the actual definition of the subconscious.

Is it similar to the unconscious? Far from it. To use the term subconscious instead of the term unconscious is a common and important mistake. The majority define the unconscious as a more profound mental process that goes on automatically that the human mind is not capable of accessing. Unconscious actions would be referring to a spouse's name out loud as your ex or the use of a wrong word to describe something. Subconscious is part of our mind which isn't in focused awareness at the moment. A kind of barrier our mind puts up can be termed subconscious in the sense that it doesn't stop everything but keeps the information stored within the brain to be retrieved later. The best example of subconscious activity is breathing. While unconscious is an automatic process that happens and is not accessible to introspection, the subconscious is part of our consciousness process but is not currently in focal awareness. Working Memory v Short Term Memory

Memory is again a very significant area of psychology and it is worth acquainting oneself with the difference between working memory and short-term memory.

Though the terms have been interchanged, contemporary cognitive psychologists have separated them with a new perspective. Working memory is an ordinarily linked system of information for temporary storage and administration. Short-term memory is most often regarded as one specific system within the working memory domain that serves as a 'scratchpad' for keeping the memory within the active state for several seconds before transferring to the subsequent level of processing. Want to learn more about psychology? Read all our blog posts here (https://www.counselindia.com/blog) At CounselIndia is India's fastest-growing network of counsellors and psychologists. The vision of CounselIndia is to provide you with practical and simple psychology courses with psychological support platform. Contact us for any question about psychology and we will respond back within < 24 hours>.

Physiotherapy is one of the most fulfilling and professional healthcare professions. Physiotherapists are required in assisting people in becoming healthy again from injury, developing mobility from pain, and recovering strength through exercise, therapy, and recovery techniques. But prior to becoming a successful physiotherapist career, students always ask themselves—one crucial question—how expensive studying physiotherapy in India is.

Physiotherapy Study Charges in India

Physiotherapy study is more expensive depending on whether the institution is government or private.

Admission Requirements

For admission in BPT course, the candidates need to possess 10+2 with Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. The admissions mostly take place through entrance tests like NEET, AIPMT, or state-level entrance exam. Some universities are also organizing entrance tests.

The IHS Bhubaneswar Advantage

For such students looking for a quality education, the Institute of Health Sciences (IHS), Bhubaneswar, offers both academic intensity and exposure to the disciplines. Highly qualified teaching faculty, well-equipped lab facilities, industry interaction, and a proper learning system, IHS is the ideal place for young physiotherapists to develop.

Career Prospects

Physiotherapists are much in demand by sports teams, hospitals, and rehab centers. New graduates can anticipate a salary of ₹15,000–₹25,000 per month, with the possibility of starting private clinics after several years of experience.

Physiotherapy is not just a course of study—it's a vocation to mend, mobilize, and empower human beings.

The number of individuals interested in undertaking the profession of mental health is rising exponentially over the last few decades. Psychology has been one of the most sought-after options among undergraduate students globally and the growth that India is experiencing is no less than a miracle. But why psychology?

Let us discover the top 10 reasons why increasing numbers of people are inclined towards a career in psychology:

1. Increasing demand for mental health specialists: The world is advancing at a speed our brains can never catch up with and we are usually lacking human relationships and interactions. We need more specialists who can comprehend the human mind. Thus, when adversity drives us to depression symptoms, lack of sleep, worry, or relationship problems, we have professionals ready to assist us out of it. Contrary to what people felt about psychology in the past, we are now headed towards a more developed population of humans who are less apprehensive to seek assistance. With this, training and accreditation have also come into the limelight and we are having increasingly more people choosing psychology.

2. Greater awareness of human diversity and personality types: Not every person thinks and feels as you do and there are many views of of the world. As you study psychology you are able to learn the variety of human experience and the various personality types and their strengths and weaknesses. This type of knowledge will benefit you at various levels and instill an empathetic mindset towards others. You also learn how to avoid being judgmental and assuming about people and consider everyone with the same neutral tone. There is no better method to fully grasp why people behave, feel, and think differently although they belong to the same society.

3. Understanding stages of human development: One of the most relevant subjects discussed in the subject of psychology is the different development stages of human beings and their needs and difficulties at each phase. You will be amazed to learn how much impact a child's initial development has and how even a two-month-year-old baby exposed to undesirable behaviour can be conditioned by it in future. This type of information assists you in assessing an individual and monitoring whether a traumatic experience or maladaptation is holding him or her back from the natural progression of development.

4. Delving into the unconscious and unknown: Our inner self doesn't always follow the same principles as our outer self. Thus, there is a vast section of psychology that is committed to knowing the unknown which is the unconscious mind that is generally in charge of most of our behaviors in stressful situations. What is the unconscious process that tends to overwhelm us when we least anticipate it? Or what are such thoughts and memories that make us take a decision that otherwise we might not have taken? Do our dreams have meanings? In trying to answer all these questions you learn how to assist individuals more consciously and assist them in creating positive changes in their lives.

5. Be ahead of all revelations and discoveries: Even though psychology has always been a human endeavor since its very birth, the revelations in this nascent science still unfolding and new discoveries are being unearthed about the human mind and soul nearly every day. A portion of being a psychologist is that you will be required to be highly familiar with methods of research and remain current with all the new advancements in the profession. Wherever you decide to pursue a career you will be required to conduct much research on the psychological conditions and behaviors in order to effectively assist your future clients. Most fascinating findings such as how restricting time on social media can boost your mental wellbeing and health, the importance of emotional intelligence, etc are just a few of the things that leave psychology hopefuls sitting on the edge of their seats.

6. Can differentiate between grades of sicknesses: The myths and misconceptions surrounding mental illness are quite widespread in India. While learning psychology you are aware of behaviors related to a particular level of mental states that enable you to comprehend the phase where your patient is in terms of the disease. It is also extremely crucial to diagnose accurately so as to comprehend to what level of assistance you can assist. The more you begin to comprehend your clients' state the better you can assist them change themselves in the proper manner.

7. You can learn psychology anywhere in the world: As compared to disciplines like law that are unique to each country, psychology is a global discipline, and the globe has ample English-language psychology degree options both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. You need not worry about an absence of choices as far as your aspiration of studying psychology abroad is concerned. Highly sought-after countries with the top psychology schools are specifically, USA, UK Australia, Canada, Germany Switzerland, and Italy.

8. Much scope for specialisation: Being a psychologist, you have more than one choice when it comes to specialisation. Mostly, the more you learn and practice on psychological theories the better you get at your job. There are primarily 5 types of psychotherapy which are commonly applied by psychologists nowadays, they are cognitive therapy, humanistic therapy, integrative therapy, behaviour therapy, and psychoanalysis. While there's always the possibility of specializing in one of them, enhancing your knowledge and learning another skill will only serve to widen your client base and assist people more variably.

9 Know more about yourself and others: Psychology is all about deconstructing the human mind in a metaphorical way that you attempt to understand the functioning of the mind, its emotions, and actions. While you are doing it you cannot help but also consider your own feelings and actions that affect your mindset. Being a psychology degree holder is a good means of gaining a better knowledge of yourself and others who are around you. Also being interested in the nature of people and possessing a good knowledge of people will be a saleable ability in most job environments ranging from marketing, advertising to education, healthcare, and even political arenas.

10. Make an impact in people's life: Has it ever occurred to you that you want to change the world and make it a better world? If it was your aspiration to make a difference real difference in the life of people, then a degree in psychology is the most straightforward way to do it. While mental health is so completely neglected by the majority even today therapists, psychologists, and community service workers are working day and night to assist people in overcoming barriers and realizing their complete potential. It will be stressful and emotionally challenging at times, but it can be incredibly rewarding and fulfilling to make a tangible difference that you can see in someone else's life.

If you want to be a psychologist, then be prepared to continually learn, and forget everything you've learned throughout your life. We cannot measure the lengths of our mind and consciousness but the path of self-discovery guides us through a lot of life skills. Psychology is a wonderful profession if you actually feel that it is your calling. Perhaps these are sufficient reasons for you to make the next move or perhaps you have some other reasons. Ultimately, you learn noble things about life and are able to make a tangible impact on people's lives.

Planning to pursue psychology as a profession? Halt your search at Counsel India, a pioneering psychology ed-tech that imagines a better world for psychology enthusiasts through practice based courses and snippets of training. Contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to discover more about careers in psychology.