India’s top medical education regulator National Medical Commission (NMC) has advised the students to exercise due diligence in choosing the destination for their medical education.
The word of caution by NMC comes specially in context of medical education in China after India’s External Affairs Ministry was alerted that some Chinese medical universities were inviting applications for admission to MBBS programmes for the current and upcoming academic years despite China continuing to ban the entry of foreign students in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the context of admission notices from Chinese universities, the NMC said in a notice issued on Tuesday that any prospective student needs to be aware that the Chinese Government has imposed strict travel restrictions in the wake of Covid-19 and suspended all visas since November 2020.
The notice said, a large number of international students including Indian students have not been able to return to China to continue their studies due to these restrictions. Thus far, there has been no relaxation in the restrictions. It said, Chinese authorities had conveyed earlier that the courses will be conducted online until the restrictions are lifted. The notice said, students who enroll in these Chinese universities this academic year would likely have to take classes online for the near future, and, as per the existing rules, National Medical Commission does not recognize or approve medical courses done only by online mode.
The NMC notice pointed out that thousands of Indian medical students studying in China are stranded in India because of the travel restrictions for more than two years, jeopardising their careers. Before applying to Chinese or any foreign institution, students have been advised by the NMC to carefully go through the “FMGE (foreign medical graduates) Regulations”, which are mandatory requirements for an Indian studying medicine abroad.
The NMC notice was issued on Tuesday, the same day when the Chinese Foreign Ministry declined to give any timeline on the return of allowing stranded Indian students back in China, days after offering to arrange for Pakistani students to return to resume on-campus learning. In response to a question by Prasar Bharati Correspondent in Beijing, the Chinese foreign Ministry said, it was considering the return of thousands of international students stranded abroad to China in a “coordinated manner” but declined to elaborate when it was planning to do so.
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