90% students who study Medicine abroad fail to clear qualifiers in India, says minister

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister and Dharwad MP Prahalad Joshi on Monday controversially claimed that 90 percent students who study medicine abroad fail to clear qualifying exams in India.

If students want to practice as a doctor in India who studied abroad, they must clear Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE). Nearly 4,000 students from Ukraine take the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination every year, but only around 700 pass.

But why do Indian students pursue Medicine in Ukraine? Let’s check it out.

According to the Ministry of Education and Science in Ukraine, there are around 18,095 Indian students. The fee structure for studying Medicine is affordable in Ukraine in comparison to India. A six-year medical degree college cost around Rs 17 lakh, less than the fee structure of private medical college in India.

On February 26, after inaugurating the webinar on Union Budget announcements on the health sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Indian students have been going to small countries for study, especially in medical education. He also appealed to the private sector to come forward and enter this field in tire 2-3 cities.

The Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday said that nearly 17,000 Indian nationals including students have left Ukraine's border since the first travel advisory was issued by the Indian Embassy in Kyiv and as many as 15 flights were scheduled over the next 24 hours. The Indian Air Force had put its fleet of C-17 transport aircraft on stand by for evacuating citizens from Ukraine.