China fulfills MBBS aspirations for less
Medical education is expensive in India. Alternatively, China presents an attractive opportunity for students aspiring for a medical qualification as the cost of education is significantly less at almost half as compared to India.
Students are applying to universities in China as it is a cheaper option. It’s especially luring those who couldn’t clear the competitive examinations for state-run subsidized medical colleges or who cannot afford the expenses of local private colleges. A first year MBBS student at Wuhan University School of Medicine in China told TOI that there are approximately 70 south Indians and one north Indian in her batch, constituting more than 60% of the total international students of the batch.
Contrary to the practice in Indian private medical colleges that charge a hefty amount from students, there is no capitation or donation in China, as per the head of a consultancy firm. According to education consultants, an MBBS course from a government medical college in China will cost about Rs 15-20 lakh, including tuition fee, food and accommodation whereas in India, just the tuition fee and donation in private colleges will sum up to nothing less than Rs 45-75 lakh (approx.). A five-year medical degree course would cost more than Rs 1 crore in the US.
China comes fourth after US, UK and Australia among the most popular destination for Indians for a medical degree. Even though the degrees offered by these colleges are not directly recognized in India, the number of Indian students joining medical colleges in China is gradually increasing. India Times reported, more than 8,000 Indian students took admission to study Medicine in China in 2010.
In 2011, Asian Educational Consultancy placed around 100 medical aspirants from India to colleges in China. This year, the consultancy received more than 150 applications from aspiring medical students.
These colleges have separate batches for Chinese and international students, majority of which are Indians hailing from states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and some from north India. Apart from cheaper cost as compared to private medical colleges in India, the infrastructure and facilities are also much better. Due to the growing interest of Indians in medical education in China, a large number of Chinese medical schools have recruited Indian and Nepalese medical faculties in their institutions. (Read more)
At present, more than 50 universities in China offer medical courses in English, however, students have to learn Chinese as a compulsory subject to interact with patients.
A similar interest was seen towards Russia as a popular destinations for Indian students but it faded away with the collapse of the Soviet Union besides racial issues. Other cheaper options for Indians to study medicine include Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and the Philippines.
Many feel that the quality of education in many private medical colleges in India is poor and devoid of hands-on experience. So, students gaining their medical qualifications from these cheaper universities abroad do not seem to mind the fact that they have to clear a screening examination conducted by the National Board of Examinations under the directive of Medical Council of India in order to be eligible for practicing in India.
Many students go for a Chinese MBBS but later move to the US or UK to pursue post graduation while others come back home for higher studies. State governments including Uttar Pradesh have recently started appointing Indian doctors who graduated from China to work in remote areas to make up for a severe shortfall of qualified medical personnel. (Read more)
How to apply for MBBS in China
Given below are some of the most popular universities in China offering MBBS degrees:
Xian Jiaotong Medical University
- Zhengzhou Medical University
- Dalian Medical University
- Jiamusi Medical University
- China Medical University
- Wuhan University (School of Medicine)
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