Medical Education in Ukraine: Statistics reveal the bigger picture

By Team Newsable | First Published Mar 4, 2022, 11:07 PM IST

There has also been a wider debate on those who complete their medical education from abroad. With the Ukraine saga unfolding, more questions are being asked.

The fate of Indian students pursuing medicine in Ukraine is at stake following the Russian invasion. Many questions have been asked in the recent days with regard to why many Indian students move to Ukraine for medical education.

There has also been a wider debate on those who complete their medical education from abroad. With the Ukraine saga unfolding, more questions are being asked.

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These include: What was the necessity to go there? What is the guarantee that those who do not do well in Indian medical exams will come back with medical education from abroad and do better? How many Indian students are pursuing education from different countries? Which are the countries that these students prefer?

Let's examine this closely:

Medical education in India

As per the World Health Organisation, there has to a ratio of 1 doctor per 1000 population. If one has to go by this statistic, there should be 1.38 crore doctors for 138 crore population in India.

According to National Health Profile data, till 2021, there were only 12 lakh registered doctors (Resident Medical practitioners). And at present, there is an availability of 83,000 MBBS seats in India. About 16 lakh aspirants appear for medical exams.

And if one speaks about the cost per seat, in private colleges, it costs between Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore for four-and-half years course. In foreign countries, it costs just Rs 20 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.

According to the data, between 2015 to 2020, the number of medical students studying abroad has witnessed a near three-fold increase.

Students who get medical education from abroad also need to appear for Foreign Medical Graduate Examination or FMGE, which is held twice a year and students get three opportunities to clear the exam and practice in India.

Once cleared, they can either practice or join concerned institutions. The exams are conducted by the National Board of Examination. Again, data shows that 12,116 candidates appeared in FMGE 2015. In 2020, that number went up to 35,774. Interestingly, seats in Indian medical colleges only increased by 30,000 in the same period.

Which countries do Indian medical students prefer?

Following the Russia and Ukraine war, it has come to notice that over 20,000 Indian students are enrolled for medical education abroad and are in different semesters.

But Ukraine is not the only nation that Indian medical aspirants prefer. Countries like China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines, and Kazakhstan are also in demand for medical colleges.

In 2020, 12,680 candidates with medical education from China appeared in FMGE. Among those who gave the examination included 4,258 students who studied in Russia, 4,153 from Ukraine, 4,156 from Kyrgyzstan, 3,142 from Philippines and 2,311 from Kazakhstan.

Only 16 per cent cleared FMGE between 2015 to 2020

Interesting facts have come out from NBE data. According to the data, students with a medical education degree from abroad fail to clear exams held in India. In the last five years, only 15.82 per cent have cleared exams held in India to qualify to practice or to teach.

In 2022, only 13 per cent of students with medical education degrees from China cleared the exam and only 16 per cent of students returning from Ukraine may clear. Only Philippines returnees with medical degrees have some decent figures as 50.2 per cent cleared the FMGE exam in 2019 and 33.7 per cent cleared in 2020. As a result, medical aspirants from India visiting Philippines has increased.

What do experts say?

Dr Aruna Vanikar, Undergraduate, Medical Education Board, National Medical Council in her opinion to a leading newspaper was quoted saying that those who get medical education from abroad are not good.

The data from FMGE is evident of this fact. Hence, the unwanted costs in medical education in India should be addressed. She also pitched for an increase in medical seats in India. Give better infrastructure to medical colleges as this will prevent medical aspirants from going abroad.

Also Read: What makes Ukraine preferred destination for Indian students

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