quaintlee
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Review: Institute of Clinical Research India (ICRI)
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10.25.06 (1 year ago)
#1
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ICRI – Institute of Clinical Research India
I saw their front page advert in Hindustan Times and gave them a call to ask for their fee structure. I was told to check out their website or to come and meet them in person. On going through the website I couldn’t find any information regarding their tuition fees. I gave them a call again and they refused to give me the information on the phone and asked me to pay them a visit where I would meet their ‘counsellor’. This in itself gave a very shady first impression and dimmed my interest in their course, but nevertheless I was curious and decided to pay them a visit.
So today I went to see them. I was asked if I had taken an appointment and given a form to fill in my details. After I filled it, the ‘counsellor’ came to speak with me. She started telling me about the boom in the research industry and the relevance of the diplomas they were offering. She threw in a few words like process-patent and all to make it seem cool :p . Here is the conversation that followed after the initial lecture about the Indian Research Industry.
Is it AICTE recognized?
No it isn’t.
Are you planning to apply for recognition?
No we are not, since ICRI is already a well established name in the industry. And this recognition is only required if an individual plans to work for the government, private institutions accept our diplomas. Apart from this we do have students who went on to work at AIIMS
, despite AIIMS
being a government body. And as it is this is an upcoming field and government jobs are still not available in this field.
(I hope you notice the contradiction in what was said – Firstly we have people who went to work at aims and secondly government jobs are not available in this sector. Apart from this, it is not necessary that the people who went on to work at AIIMS
did so because of the qualification they got at ICRI, it is possible that their current job is due to their previous education/degree)
What is the Fee structure?
Rs. 1,50,000 for the part-time Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Data Management and Rs. 1,30,000 for the part-time Postgraduate diploma in Clinical Research.
(I was shocked at the exorbitant fee, this being a one year course with classes being held once a week for 4 hours)
The counselor instantly went to mention that they have a tie up with the Bank of India who will give a personal loan to pay for the course. I asked her what would the rate of interest be, she said around 10% and repayment should start within 6 months of completion of the course.
(I wonder what she meant by having a tie-up when the rates of interest are standard bank education loan rates and the guarantee requirements were also the same)
Admission procedure?
We have to buy the prospectus for Rs.500, after which an interview will be held. If we are selected then we have to pay the first installment of Rs.30,000 within 2 days. The remainder of the money has to be paid within 10 days. They do not have an installment system.
Batch size?
30 students
What is the last date for application?
Classes start on 18th November so you can let us know by then, but only 4-5 seats are left for this course so its better if you let us know by the end of the week.
It is definitely a good initiative to set up a course in this field. But a few things about the whole set up were quite disturbing.
Not providing information on the website or on the phone is highly unprofessional, no reputed university would decline to provide this information openly.
If you are providing an honest service then you should be able to give all information about it openly. Even if you charge a high tuition fees, you should feel it is justified and feel confident enough to let it be known openly. Those who are interested will still pay up, provided you institute shows some character.
Secondly the way they handle a person who has come to them for information like asking if you have made an appointment, and saying that seats are limited, all seemed like heavy selling tactics.
Keep a trimester based payment system. If your course is good people will stay on. The fact that you do not have an installment system shows your lack of confidence in what your’re selling.
I think it would have been better if they would have told me the fee structure on the phone, I wouldn’t have ended up writing this review about them 
I was quite disappointed with the whole set-up, such a good course with such good potential is being wasted due to their high handed commercial attitude. A lower fee and better structuring would make it much more accessible to a larger number of people.
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