The Lure Of That Foreign Degree

At least 25 percent of the physician workforce in the UK, US, Canada and Australia are international medical graduates. No wonder, Indian aspirants too flock to foreign shores…

- Shivani Bhatt

Most of the medical students have dreamt of taking the pledge, “I swear by Apollo the physician...” as they take the final plunge in practicing medicine. Medical education has been a coveted profession and students have always aspired to study the subject from the top medical schools in the world. “There are numerous positives of joining a medical school abroad. Important among them are the schools of reputed world rankings, dedicated and have advance therapy exposure, less number of students in group making it a focused education pattern, live stimulation demo classes, healthier teacher-student relationship, better quality of education as compared to India as well as more subjects taught as opposed to Indian curriculum,” says Assistant Commandant Dr. Devesh Chatterjee, graduate of Smolensk State Medical University, Russia.

The MCI has made it mandatory for Indian aspirants for medicine abroad to qualify the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). This is to ensure that only the deserving students are able to pursue it. Also, the international aspirants who have not qualified NEET will not be allowed to appear for the Foreign Medical Graduates Exam (FMGE). Let us take a look at set of countries preferred by Indian aspirants to study medicine abroad.

China