March 11, 2022

India: Ukraine-Returned Medical Students Demand Places in Indian Medical Colleges

G Given the current Russia-Ukraine tension, there's a growing improbability of Indian medical students being able to go back to Ukrainian universities to finish their studies. Students who were forced to abandon their studies now find themselves in a tough spot with regards to the future. There has been pressure on the Indian government to accommodate them in local medical schools. Back in Ukraine, classes have been suspended with no indication of how and when they will resume.

Looking at the situation, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, India, appealed to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the issue with the National Medical Commission (NMC). “Given the unprecedented situation in Ukraine, it may not be practically possible for these medical students to return to their colleges there to continue their studies. The uncertainty is likely to prevail even after the cessation of hostilities and till the restoration of normalcy in their universities,” said MK Stalin. National Medical Commission (NMC) is the body which regulates medical education in India.

…there has been pressure on Prime Minister Modi from the Indian Medical Association (IMA), to increase existing seats by 2%-5% in all government and private medical colleges in the country…

Ukraine-returned student Pulkit Pareek shared, “It is impossible for us to continue our studies in Ukraine. It will take years for them [institutions in Ukraine] to recover from the present situation. The majority of students were studying in cities like Kharkiv and Kyiv, where so much devastation has happened that there is no place to live.”

There has been pressure on Prime Minister Modi from the Indian Medical Association (IMA), to increase existing seats by 2%-5% in all government and private medical colleges in the country. This can be a one-time measure. “Both the government and the medical colleges will have to decide. It is a complicated process,” said IMA Secretary General Dr. Jayesh Lele.

Is there a solution to this problem? While the government is working towards finding a domestic solution, the students have another option, that is, seeking opportunity in other universities abroad via transfers. But this too comes with a catch: every country has a specific criteria that needs to be fulfilled to get a seat. As of now, countries like Poland, Armenia and Hungary are offering opportunities to international medical students in their universities. Students can be a part of these programmes without losing a year.

There's a similar demand from the medical students who were studying in China (pre-COVID). As China is yet to open its borders for international students, many medical students find themselves stranded. For the past two years, there has been no response from the National Medical Commission to requests from students shut out of China.

However, the National Medical Commission said that those students who pass the Foreign Medical Graduates Exam (FMGE) and who already had their MBBS degree but could not complete their internships, would be eligible for stipends which Indian medical interns receive.

Posted in News and tagged News, India, Indian Medical Association, National Medical Commission, Ukraine, Higher Education
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