Affordable private medical institutions are the need of the hour for India

• The Indian government is rescuing the Indian students from Ukraine, and most of these students are medical students.
  
• Apart from English-speaking countries, Indian students go to many other countries such as China, Russia, Ukraine for medical education when they could not get admission into Indian medical colleges due to low ranks.
• A large number of students go to countries like Ukraine to get medical degrees but a very small percentage of them clear the FMGE exam due to poor quality of education.

Indian students go to countries around the world to become doctors. Despite having such a large requirement of trained doctors and paramedics, the country is not producing enough trained professionals in this field. The Indian government is rescuing the Indian students from Ukraine, and most of these students are medical students. 

Apart from English-speaking countries, Indian students go to many other countries such as China, Russia, Ukraine for medical education when they could not get admission into Indian medical colleges due to low ranks. The number of seats for medical professionals is very low in India because there is very little private investment in medical education. 

Unlike private engineering and medical colleges, which mushroomed across the country in the last two decades, the supply of medical colleges is still limited. Various reasons are responsible for this including the regulatory cholesterol which the Modi government has tried to clean in the last few years.

However, the students are still going abroad for medical degrees because the supply in the country is still low when compared to demand. Indian laws allow students to pursue MBBS courses from universities abroad. But to get a license to practice in India, they are required to qualify Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) conducted by the National Board of Examination (NBE). 

Clearing the FMGE test is mandatory for all doctors who have earned their MBBS degree from a foreign country. Only those who earn their MBBS and post-graduate degrees from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US are exempted from this test.

A large number of students go to countries like Ukraine to get medical degrees but a very small percentage of them clear the FMGE exam due to poor quality of education. Thus, an increase in the supply of medical colleges, especially by the private players, is the need of the hour.

In the wake of the Ukraine crisis, from where thousands of Indian medical students, Prime Miniter Modi appealed to the private sector to invest in medical education.

“Our children today are going to small countries for study, especially in medical education. Language is a problem there. They are still going…Can our private sector not enter this field in a big way? Can our state governments not frame good policies for land allotment regarding this,” asked the Prime Minister, although he did not mention the evacuation of Indian medical students from Ukraine. 

Countries like China, Russia, and Ukraine have a very poor quality of medical education. Despite spending lakhs of rupees and devoting 5-6 years of their lives pursuing the coveted MBBS degree on foreign shores, a majority of them fail to pass the FMGE which is necessary to obtain the license to practice in India.

As per an India Today report, between 2012 and 2018, a total of 97,639 Indians who earned their MBBS degrees from foreign universities appeared for Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE). Of these, only 16,097 were able to clear securing a pass percentage of just 16 per cent.

China and Russia have emerged as the most favoured countries for Indian students looking to pursue MBBS, However, of the 32,139 Indian doctors who graduated from Chinese universities and took FMGE between 2012 and 2018, only 4,609 managed to pass it. Similarly, 17,674 MBBS graduates from Russia took FMGE in this period but only 2,606 were able to clear it. The numbers highlight an alarming disparity between the quality of education imparted in the aforementioned countries and the curriculum in India.

The report further reveals that Indian students earned MBBS degrees from over 60 countries between 2012 and 2018. Data of those who took FMGE between 2012 and 2018 show China was the most-favoured destination for pursuing MBBS among Indians. It was followed by Russia, Ukraine, Nepal, and Kyrgyzstan. Together, 76,425 Indians graduated with an MBBS degree from these five countries and took FMGE between 2012 and 2018. This was 78.27 per cent of the total FMGE examinees. But of these, only 11,516 (15 per cent) were able to clear the screening test and get a license to practice in India. 

The likes of China, Russia and Ukraine are giving away degrees for easy effort as despite emerging as popular MBBS destinations, graduates from these countries have struggled to clear the mandatory screening test to practice in India. 

All that is needed is an expansion of the medical education sector! Once the private sector makes a good investment in medical education, one decade down the line, medical education will be just like engineering and management education.