- The Russian invasion of Ukraine has entered the second week and there are still no signs of calling a halt to the war where the casualties are mounting by the day. The collateral damages perpetrated by missiles and other deadly weaponry are leading to innocent deaths as well. Even foreign students studying in Ukraine are having a tough time what with an Indian medical student losing life owing to indiscriminate shelling. Several countries including Indian students are being evacuated on a war footing from relatively less turbulent areas as well as ground zero. In the Indian context, the majority of the students are pursuing medical education ranging from the first year to the fifth year of their respective courses.
PC: Editorial
- The moot point to ponder over here is what will be the future course of action for the medical students who were forced to return to their motherland abruptly. Of course, every medical student who has finally reached India from worn-torn Ukraine has a reason for relief, but these returnees’ anxieties have hardly ended. One obvious big question staring in their face is how they will continue their interrupted education, especially if the Ukraine crisis does not ease in the near term. Indications are that the crisis is not going to end expeditiously, and even if it ends, there is no way the tattered infrastructure, as well as the logistical nightmare confronting the Ukrainian authorities, will be satisfactorily addressed.
- Back home, as demands upon the government grow to intervene in this sphere as well, some solutions are easier to deliver than others. For example, relaxation of the National Medical Council (NMC) rule that blocks migration from one college to the other should be expedited, enabling students so far studying in Ukraine to have the option of transferring to medical colleges in other countries. Further, as for accommodating all returnees in Indian colleges, that will be a very knotty affair if not well nigh impossible. Remember that it is not just the affordability of Ukrainian options but also the terrible demand-supply situation in India that sent students away in the first place.
PC:
- Note that some 16 lakh students take NEET, some 8 lakh qualify, and then there are only 90,000 odd seats available. As can be seen, there just aren’t that many spare seats to be had for the 20,000-odd students who had gone to Ukraine. Also, there is the issue of whether returnees, who paid comparatively lower fees, should get discounts in Indian private colleges, a complicated question indeed. Nonetheless, both for the sake of its students and its overall health, India does need to expand medical education forthwith. And approving new medical colleges at a breakneck pace will be counterproductive, as quality education needs quality faculty, hospital linkages, and other high-grade resources that need careful nurturing. A well-thought-out approach should be the way forward.
- One silver line is the common licensing exam for all MBBS graduates that are scheduled to start in 2023 holding great promise in the pursuit of quality. Students trained abroad, who are currently put through a separate and tougher screening, should be content with the fairness. Ultimately, decades of official neglect will only mean Indian students will keep looking out for options abroad.
