As the government mulls a one-off solution to rehabilitate Indian medical students in war-ravaged Ukraine, academics and advocacy groups have floated the idea of a capital grant and insurance coverage to secure the future of thousands of medical students who have had to sweep into it back to the motherland to escape the war.
It has been proposed that the affected students be placed at various medical colleges and universities in India through a special transfer program that would be accompanied by capital support and educational loans. This should be backed up by comprehensive insurance coverage which the Indian government could introduce through one of the national insurance companies.
“The Indian government should consider further expanding aid to secure the future of all medical students through a much-needed bridge program and one-time capital aid,” said Rohan Prem Sagar, board member of Dayananda Sagar Institutions and Dayananda Sagar University. called.
“I welcome the recommendation of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to accommodate the returning students at Indian medical colleges for the rest of their studies by disbursing them to different colleges with the right modalities,” he said.
“The situation also requires urgent attention to two important factors – the establishment of a national foreign education advisory service and the introduction of a comprehensive foreign education insurance policy,” he added.
He said that with a population of 1.4 billion, India’s medical infrastructure is still underserved and more medical colleges need to be built across the country
It has been suggested that, as an immediate temporary measure, the Government of India, while admitting the students to study in Indian medical colleges on the basis of well-defined parameters, must also consider allowing these colleges to run a second shift or an additional shift, to accommodate the academic and learning needs of the students concerned.
dr S. Sacchidanand, former Vice-Chancellor of Ragiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), said: “In case the war prolongs or the Ukrainian medical colleges cannot resume permanently, the students only have to be placed in Indian Medical Colleges as a one-off measure and for humanitarian reasons.”
“To facilitate this, the National Medical Commission of India (NMC) should relax the existing rules and make a one-off provision for the admission of these students. Admission should be through a national advisory process based on their NEET scores/ranks and a place matrix of available places per year and participating colleges, which must be identified and notified prior to the advisory process,” he said.
“Students who have completed their course and have completed an internship may be able to complete their internship at Indian Medical College hospitals. However, they still have to show up for the licentiate exams to register and practice in India,” he added.
The government has been asked to decide on the foreign medical graduate examination (FMGE) that these students must take after completing the course.
As some of their training took place outside of India, alignment and methodology issues could arise.
Since these students may have to pay the same fee they paid in Ukraine, as well as housing and food for colleges in India, a bridging loan that can be repaid once the students find employment would be useful.
The Center and NMC are believed to be discussing modalities to accommodate thousands of Indian students pursuing medical training in Ukraine at Indian medical colleges or abroad so that they can complete their courses and then appear for NEET-FMG.
It has also been suggested that the government should issue a list of risk nations to warn students looking to study abroad.
