The government had promised to help medical students from the Ukraine after they were evacuated from that war-torn country, but that has not happened.
Has the Indian government intervened to help? What is the Medical Council of India's response?
Initially, the government told us they will give us admission in India, but the Medical Council of India said if they gave admissions to Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs), then it would be unfair for those appearing for NEET and other exams.
We have cracked NEET, that is why we got admission at a medical university. We went to Ukraine only because we didn't want to pay capitation fees.
Many students here pay and get a management seat. We have got more marks, but we couldn't get a government seat and we don't pay (a capitation fee) that's why we left to study abroad.
Now they are asking us to appear for NEET again, go through the old stress and trauma.
NEET is of 720 marks. We are from the open category.
So we FMGs wrote to the MCI saying give exams on our MBBS course because the syllabus is the same worldwide.
The human body is the same, we study the same thing. If I've got 90 percent, then we are very much eligible.
For them it is only NEET, else you are good for nothing.
They kept dilly-dallying, saying 15 days more, and now we have lost 10 months of our lives.
Our course is of six years, then we do specialisation. When will we finish studying? When will we start earning? When will we become professional practitioners?
I called MCI, but they don't answer their phones. After 100 e-mails they replied to one.
They told me, I have two options: Either take a transfer (to another university abroad) or stay back in India and give NEET again.
You can't tell a student who is already in a medical course to give the entrance exam all over again. What is wrong with them?
by Neeta Kolhatkar
31/10/2022