Future of Indian medical students enrolled in Ukraine ‘hangs in balance’

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) – Even as thousands of medical students who returned to India from war-torn Ukraine heaved a sigh of relief, an uncertain future and likelihood of not being able to graduate are now giving them sleepless nights.

"Our future looks so uncertain. The online classes have started, but for medical students, clinical knowledge is a must. In the present circumstances, getting practical knowledge is not possible," Aman Singh, a fourth-year medical student at Ukrainian capital Kyiv's Bogomolets National Medical University, told Anadolu Agency.

According to data presented by the Ministry of External Affairs in parliament in 2021, India had 18,000 students enrolled in educational institutions in Ukraine, more than in Russia (16,500) and France (10,000).

A resident of the Indian capital New Delhi, Singh arrived on Feb. 19, soon after the Indian government issued an advisory for its nationals in Ukraine.

"There is no clarity on what is going to happen. Everyone is worried for the future,” he said.

Singh said that many universities in Ukraine stand damaged and the teachers are taking classes online.

"We have been doing classes online for the last two years, because of the pandemic. Towards the end of our degree, practical knowledge is a must and as students are not getting it, every student is worried,” he said.

Like him, many other students, mostly from India’s small towns and villages are worried about not being able to get practical training, an essential element of medical education.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ashna Pandita, a third-year student at Ukraine's Taras Shevchenko National Medical University, said that returning to Ukraine under current circumstances was not possible.

- Scared about future

"Our parents are scared. We were already taking online classes due to COVID-19 and wasting one more year, this profession is not at all justified," she said.

"We are scared about our future and we are requesting the government to help us,” she added.

According to the students, they have asked both central and state governments in India to accommodate them in domestic medical colleges.

"The (Indian) parliament session will end this week. Government should come forward to help the students. It is a matter of careers of thousands of students," said Pulkit Pareek, a medical student and founder of the nearly 7,000-member Indo-Ukrainian Student Front.

He said that students who escaped from Ukraine are facing several issues.

"We don't have even any document to prove in which class a student is studying," said Pareek, adding that their certificates were with the universities, which have been damaged.

The southern state of Karnataka has so far allowed them to continue medical education in the state medical colleges as a temporary measure.

- No communication

India's National Medical Commission has allowed those who had left the medical internship halfway due to war and COVID-19 to complete the remaining course in India.

Medical students, who have obtained degrees, are mandated to work in hospitals as interns to qualify for a license to practice medicine unsupervised.

But students say there is so far no communication about those, who have left medical education halfway due to war.

Over the years, due to the paucity of medical seats in the domestic medical colleges, the aspiring medicos in India were preferring Ukraine.

According to the students, they chose Ukraine because it offers affordable medical education.

“The total degree in Ukraine costs approximately $30,000- $45,000 for the six-year course, including living costs. The same degree would cost nearly $130,000 in India," said Singh.

He said that those who do not get admission to the government-run medical colleges in India, prefer Ukraine rather pay whooping costs at private medical colleges.