Embassy of India in Beijing issues advisory highlighting various challenges for students seeking medical degree from China

Embassy of India in Beijing has issued detailed advisory highlighting various challenges for prospective students seeking medical degree from China.

In wake of thousands of Indian students waiting for their return to their Chinese colleges for past two and half years, the clarifying advisory was issued in response to several queries from prospective Indian students and their parents.

AIR correspondent reports, The advisory highlighted certain important issues for prospective students which needs to be kept in mind when seeking admission for undergraduate clinical medicine programme in China.

First, prospective Indian students are required to clear the NEET-UG exam as a prerequisite to pursue medical education abroad. Second, after completing their medical degree in China, these students are required to obtain a license to practice medicine in China.

Only such students who fulfil these two conditions can appear in Foreign Medical Graduates Exam (FMGE) which is required to pursue clinical medical practice in India.

Embassy advisory also said that Indian students should seek admission in only those 45 universities which are approved by Chinese Ministry of Education and offer course in English language otherwise they may face problem in getting the license to practice in China, thereby making them ineligible to appear for FMG Examination at a later stage.

Interestingly, the medium of instruction remains Chinese which makes it mandatory for foreign students to learn mandarin to an advanced level otherwise they will not be awarded degree.

Regarding quality of medical education in China, it said One of the most common challenge is the English language skills of Chinese teachers in these universities.

Few students have also complained about lack of practical and clinical experience in terms of engaging with patients in certain universities.

Moreover, students should keep in mind that the pass percentage of Indian students in FMGE who have studied clinical medicine programme in China in last five years in the approved 45 universities was only 16%.  

More than 20000 Indian students mostly enrolled in medical courses in Chinese universities are waiting to return to China for more than 2.5 years due to COVID related restrictions and a ban on direct flights to and from India.

China has now started giving visas but due to non-availability of direct flights, it is very costly affair to travel to China through transit route. Detailed advisory can be accessed on Embassy of India website and twitter handle @EOIBeijing