How to become a doctor after 10th in Karnataka

If your child has just finished Class 10 and says, "I want to be a doctor", here is the whole route in Karnataka, step by step, as of 2026.

Step 1: Choose PUC Science with Biology

In Karnataka, Class 11 and 12 are 1st and 2nd PUC. For medicine, a student needs the Science stream with Physics, Chemistry and Biology, along with English. Many students also take Mathematics, which keeps engineering open.

Choose the college with care. The two PUC years carry both the PU board exam and NEET. Our guides to choosing a PU college for NEET and what an integrated PU college is explain the options.

Step 2: Meet the eligibility rules

To write NEET UG and take an MBBS seat, as of 2026, a candidate must:

• Be at least 17 years old by 31 December of the admission year. There is no upper age limit.
• Pass Class 12 with Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English.
• Score at least 50% in Physics, Chemistry and Biology together for the general category, 45% for general PwD, and 40% for SC, ST and OBC.

Step 3: Write NEET UG

NEET UG is conducted by the National Testing Agency, usually in early May. As of 2026 it has 180 compulsory questions: 45 Physics, 45 Chemistry and 90 Biology, for 720 marks, with +4 for a correct answer and −1 for a wrong one, in three hours. It can be written in Kannada as well as English.

The exam mode may change: a move to computer-based testing from 2027 was announced in May 2026 and was under consideration in October 2026. See NEET 2027 in CBT mode.

Step 4: Qualify, then get a rank

Qualifying NEET (50th percentile for general, 40th for SC, ST and OBC) makes a student eligible for counselling. The All India Rank decides which seat they can get. In 2026 about 11.2 lakh qualified, for about 1.37 lakh MBBS seats.

Step 5: Counselling

Karnataka students can apply through two channels, in parallel:

• KEA for the state quota of government college seats and seats in Karnataka's private colleges.
• MCC for the 15% All India Quota of government seats across India, deemed universities and central institutions.

Our step-by-step guide to KEA counselling explains registration, options and the choices after each round.

Step 6: MBBS, internship and beyond

MBBS lasts 5½ years, including a one-year compulsory rotating internship. After that, a doctor can practise, or prepare for postgraduate entrance (NEET PG, as of 2026) to specialise as MD or MS, and later super-specialise.

The other doors NEET opens

NEET is also the entrance for:

• BDS (dentistry), 5 years including internship
• BAMS (Ayurveda) and BHMS (Homoeopathy), about 5½ years each
• BSc Nursing through some channels
• BVSc (veterinary science) through the national quota

Healing is not limited to MBBS. A student who becomes a healer in any of these courses is on the path of a doctor.

Karnataka-specific points

• Eligibility clauses. KEA's state-quota seats have clauses, such as seven years of study in Karnataka. Read them in the brochure each year.
• Kannada-medium and rural reservations. Karnataka has horizontal reservations for students who studied in Kannada medium from Class 1 to 10, and for rural candidates, in government seats. Check current rules in the KEA brochure.
• Fees. A Karnataka government MBBS seat costs about ₹64,350 a year in tuition (2026–27). See MBBS fees in Karnataka.

Becoming a doctor before the seat

The steps above are the official route. There is another, quieter one. A doctor needs strength, calm, clear thinking, the ability to connect with people, and a sense of service. These are built in the same years as the syllabus. At RIMA we say: you don't get a medical seat and then become a doctor; you become a doctor, and then you get the seat.

If your child is in Class 10 now, our integrated PU + NEET programme is built for exactly these two years.