Education, Careers & Professional News
Foreign medical exam to be made easier
Does the dream of donning a lab coat and a stethoscope have to remain a dream because you have not managed to notch up the required percentage in the state-level entrance exam?
No. You can realise your goal through foreign universities, which offer attractive medical courses. To make things easier, the Foreign Medical Graduate (FMG) Examination, a mandatory exam for students from foreign universities who wish to practice in India, will be far simpler in the future.
The National Board of Examinations (NBE) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which conducts the FMG, has taken this decision as only a very few candidates are able to clear it.
The figures speak for themselves: Of the 3,500-odd students who appear for the FMG, less than 1,000 get through. Unless the foreign graduates pass this exam, they cannot be registered with the Medical Council of India (MCI) for professional practice in the country. Because of this we are seriously thinking of making the test far easier, NBE President Prof A Rajasekaran told this newspaper from New Delhi. According to him, FMG is not a competitive entrance examination, but a mechanism to ensure that candidates have actually pursued a medical course overseas.
Over the years, Russia has become the Mecca of medical education for Indian students. Of late, countries such as China and Germany are also wooing aspirants.
Says Ravi Chander of Study Abroad, an education consultancy, about 800 to 900 students go to Russia for studies each year from the centre. Among them, nearly 90 per cent opt for medical education which costs Rs one lakh excluding food and living expenses, he says.
The Russian education system offers a six-year course after which an MD certificate will be awarded to students. This is considered the equivalent of an MBBS degree in India.
Rajasekaran points out that doing away with capitation fees in our medical colleges will help put an end to this brain drain.
The Government should also revamp the existing curriculum to include alternate medical education modules to encourage medicos to work in rural areas