The post-MBBS neurology course is taught by a Junior Resident for two years, for which he is paid around 55–65k depending on tax savings and HRA. After this, he serves as a senior resident for 3 years and receives a salary in the range of m 65–88k depending on tax savings and HRA. Usually, there is an increment of 3k every year.
Once MD is completed, you will continue to be treated as a SR and the pay will also remain the same. However, when the next pay commission is due, there will be an increase of around 15k in the salary.
Hope this helps you!
In my opinion, it’s best to complete an MD in medicine first rather than pursuing DM Neuro directly after MBBS.
It is so because M.B.B.S. students receive minimal clinical exposure and therefore their interest in a particular field might not be genuine. They might later regret their choice.
An integrated program is a 5-year program that requires a lot of commitment. So, if you go for a field you are not interested in, you will be wasting 5 years of your life. Even if you are sure of your interest in neurology, you may not actually like it when you start working. That being said, it's better that you do MD in medicine, have first-hand exposure to all the specialties, and then choose one for you.
People often choose integrated courses so as to save one year of education. However, they fail to recognize the risks involved.
Ultimately, unless you love neurology passionately and have enough exposure in the same, go for direct DM, else completing MD would be the safest bet.
You need to secure a very good rank in the NIMHANS entrance exam, this could be among the top 4 or 5. Here are some things about the course you should know about beforehand.
As it is an institute of national importance, there are plenty of research opportunities for interested students. At the end of the course, you are expected to have a thorough knowledge of clinical aspects of Neurology, investigational modalities not limited to EEG, EMG, MRI, CT, etc. Thus it opens a huge scope of learning.
It’s quite challenging to secure a DM Neurology in NIMHANS. One needs a very good rank under the AIR-5 range. NIMHANS conducts the best neurology-centered examination for students.
During the initial 2 years, you will hardly be able to study amidst the chaos of problems related to neurology. It’s only after 2 years when you come back to college that you will be able to study theoretical neurology topics like neurosurgery, pathology, etc.
If you are a research enthusiast, you will also have access to the Research Institute for Neurology. Additionally, you can work on some projects related to neurology like control of the human brain, dog motion control, etc.
All this combined may help you get a seat in SM Neurology at NIMHANS.