Accommodate us in Indian Medical Colleges: Medical students rescued from Ukraine

Indian medical students who were forced to flee Ukraine owing to the continuing conflict have appealed the government to assist them in completing their studies in their home country. Thousands of Indian refugees, many of them medical students, have fled the war-torn country since Russia invaded Ukraine. Many students stated that they wanted to pursue medical courses in Ukraine due to the lower cost of living.

“I don’t want to go back to Ukraine, expecting the Central government to do something about our education here”, said Pratisksha Sharma, a medical student who returned from Ukraine told news agency ANI.

Pratisksha, a student of Vinnytsia National Pirogov Medical University, while narrating her escape from the war-torn country, said, “I was supposed to come back from Ukraine on February 24. I was in a bunker in Kyiv for three days. Then I went to the Hungary border from where I flew back to India through the Indian Air force flight.”

Speaking about her studies, Sharma said, “As of now, we are having online classes. If our government is accomodating us in Indian colleges, then I would study in India. If they are not accomodating us, then I will clear my KROK exam in Ukraine and go to some other safer country to finish my studies.”

Ukrainian medical examination, KROK, is a Licensing Examination, an obligatory part of state certification for awarding the qualification of doctor or pharmacist.

According to Pratisksha, medicine is a subject that needs lots of practical classes and studying it online will not make any sense. “Practical information is very important. We need live experiences. I don’t think online education will work for us and later there will be issues saying that we don’t trust you guys as you are from this batch that didn’t have proper classes. We don’t want that semi-educated tag on us,” she added.

“It’s difficult to go back there but KROK is important. I don’t want to go back and I am expecting the Indian government to do something,” she added.

“There will be no major amendment to absorb Ukraine-return MBBS students as of now. NMC will not take any such action. It is impossible to absorb almost 20,000 students. It is a huge number. There are limited seats in India, and if NMC plans to do an amendment now, then any medical student will return to India and demand a seat in Indian medical colleges,” the official cited above said on condition of anonymity.

Medically Speaking

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