Government proposes to hold MRCP exam in Karnataka

London: The Karnataka government has proposed to hold the Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) exam in the state every year, which Medical Education Minister Dr Sharan Prakash Patil said would help local graduates.

The MRCP Exam is a pre-requisite for physicians wishing to undergo training in a medical-related speciality in the UK.

“In the existing system, our medical graduates need to travel all the way from India to UK to prepare and take the MRCP exam,” Patil said. “There are plenty of job opportunities for medical and dental graduates in the UK. But many graduates are not showing interest as they’ve to travel to London for the MRCP exam,” he said.

Patil, who is visiting London for bilateral talks, took up the matter with the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO). “We have requested the BAPIO to train and conduct the exams in Karnataka itself,” the minister said.

The MRCP exam is conducted in three parts by the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and is recognised globally.  

Partnerships

The state government is forming several partnerships, including one in which Karnataka–UK HealthTech and MedTech Innovation Hubs will be set up with pilots in Bengaluru across medicine, nursing and allied health sciences, with credit transfer pathways and potential scale-up to other cities.

The government is also discussing collaborative PhD and postdoctoral pathways across Karnataka and UK universities, established through structured frameworks enabling joint supervision, shared financial support, and academic exchange.

An agreement for collaborative research, training and innovation in healthcare between the University of Wolverhampton and the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) will include joint research, clinical trials, innovation in medical devices and health tech. A Centre of Excellence in healthcare decarbonisation for sustainable practices is on the cards.

Between Wolverhampton, RGUHS and University of Cambridge, agreements will cover healthcare innovation and academic exchange. 

With Wolverhampton and GTTC, the government wants to strengthen education, skill development, and healthcare innovation through joint training, curriculum development, research, and faculty/student exchanges.

Again with Wolverhampton, the Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute will collaborate on medical research, joint training, faculty development and start-up incubation. 

(The reporter is in UK at the invitation of the Karnataka State Higher Education Council)