Amidst debate around Indian students seeking MBBS degress in overseas colleges, records show a three-fold increase in the number of candidates appearing for an exam to obtain a licence to practise medicine in India in the last five years.
The Ukraine crisis has highlighted the plight of Indian medical students who are forced to study abroad due to affordable fee structure and hassle-free admission. War-hit Ukraine is the third most popular destination after China and the Philippines for Indian students pursuing medical studies.
The number of candidates taking the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE), the mandatory test for all overseas Indian MBBS students to obtain a licence to practise medicine in India, increased from 12,116 in 2015 to 35,774 in 2020, according to a report by The Indian Express quoting data from the National Board of Examination (NBE).
The majority of graduates from China, Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, and Kazakhstan appearing for FMGE, which is conducted twice a year by NBE. Graduates with overseas MBBS degrees are allowed a total of three attempts to clear the exam.
In 2020, 12,680 graduates from Chinese universities appeared for the examination. This was followed by 4,313 graduates from Russia, 4,258 from Ukraine, 4,156 from Kyrgyzstan, 3,142 from the Philippines, and 2,311 from Kazakhstan.
The average pass percentage of the FMGE over the last five years stood at 15.82 per cent, while 17.22 per cent of graduates from Ukraine passed the exam in the same period.
While lakhs of students appear in NEET every year, only about 40,000 get admission in government medical colleges in India. In such a situation, a large number of NEET qualified Indian students look for study opportunities abroad.
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