Soviet Russia used to attract the maximum number of Indian students.
New Delhi: China has overtaken Russia as the favourite destination for Indian students for doing MBBS course to become doctors. More than 32,000 students who did their MBBS course from different medical colleges in China sat for the screening test in India from 2012 to 2018, while more than 17,000 students doing the same course from Russia sat in the examination during the period.
According to figures provided by the National Board of Examinations (NBE), as many as 20,314 students who did their MBBS course from Chinese medical colleges, appeared for the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) test, mandatory for them to clear in order to practice in India, in the last four years, from 2015 to 2018. However, only 2,370 students were able to clear it.
Russia, on the other hand, attracted fewer students, as during the period of 2015-18, only 11,697 doing MBBS from that country appeared for the FMGE, out of which only 1,510 could clear it. Interestingly, it was the united Russia (the USSR), that used to attract the maximum number of students from India to realise their dream of becoming doctors.
The other countries which attracted Indian students for doing MBBS during the period 2015-18 include Ukraine (8,021), Kyrgyzstan (5,335), Georgia (1,682), Kazakhstan (1393) and Armenia (1,096).
According to the NBE figures, a total of 61,708 foreign MBBS graduates appeared in the FMGE test during the period 2015-18, but only 8,764 were able to clear it.
As per the details, the number of Indian students who appeared in FMGE, after doing MBBS from China was 11,825 during 2012-14, out of which 2,239 cleared the FMGE test. The number of students who after doing MBBS from Russia sat for the FMGE was 5,950 in 2012-14, out of which 1,094 passed the FMGE test. Thus, a total of 32,139 students went to China from 2012-18, while 17,647 students doing MBBS from Russia sat for the FMGE from 2012-18.
With a record number of students from India enrolling to study medicine in China, the country’s education ministry has authorised only 45 of the local medical colleges from among over 200 to enroll foreign students to teach MBBS in English. Besides India, China attracts students from other Asian countries, due to its affordable courses compared to institutions in the US, UK and Australia.
Sources said that at present, over 23,000 Indian students are studying different courses in Chinese universities, out of whom 21,000 have enrolled to study MBBS. This is an all-time high.