A new viral video of Aruna Vanikar, President of the Under-Graduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB), National Medical Commission (NMC), saying “stop sending students for medical education outside India”, has caused a stir among the medical community online.
In a video clip circulating on social media, Vanikar is speaking at the NMO Teacher's Meet, New Delhi organised by the National Medicos Organisation and Undergraduate Medical Education Board, NMC. The NMC official can be heard urging the audience to stop sending Indian students to foreign countries for medical education.
In the clip shared by Aman Pandey, State President (Uttar Pradesh), Rashtriya Lok Dal, the NMC official can be heard saying, “To practise in India, their curriculum is not what it should be. We already published FMG regulations on 2021 November 18 and the CRMI (Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship) regulations. Still our Indian students are duped into going to these foreign countries where actual education is not provided and they are just selling degrees. These people spend 30 to 50 lakhs, come back after exhausting their financial resources and end up disappointed. My earnest request is please stop sending students for foreign medical graduation anywhere outside India.”
Medicos react
Upon contacting All FMGs Association, an association of foreign medical graduates, it was informed that the video is from Tuesday, August 22.
The association also shared the video on X (formerly known as Twitter) and stated, “This is Aruna Vanikar, President of National Medical Commission. She is clearly saying as a spokesperson of the Ministry of Health that NMC thinks that all the foreign medical universities are low in standards as they don’t follow the correct pattern to teach Medicine.”
Aman Pandey also took to social media to express his views on the viral video.
“Now from 2021 NMC (National Medical Commission) is changing rules on eligibility to study Medicine abroad so that students don't go abroad to study Medicine. They will be left either to quit their dreams of becoming a doctor or arrange Rs one crore and pay to any Private college and become MBBS doctor,” Pandey tweeted.
The medical community has also demanded that Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya issue a clarity on the future of foreign medical education and its validity in India after Vanikar’s remarks.
Why medical aspirants go abroad?
The students have identified the UGMEB president’s remarks as controversial due to limited access to medical seats in India, which is the main reason that students seek medical education abroad.
While the number of government seats is very limited, leading to cut-throat competition in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET-UG) examination, the private medical seats on the other hand are very expensive, often costing up to Rs 1 crore.
Students expressed that due to these reasons, they are being forced to pursue medical education abroad and hence, the comments made by Dr Aruna Vanikar serve as a trigger for students pursuing medical education abroad.
"The universities in the countries students choose are affiliated to NMC. Also, there are only a few select universities which students are opting for. And it is not that the education abroad is not good. The universities are teaching us as per the NMC curriculum. They are not teaching us in the way they teach local students. Our mark sheets and certificates are in the Indian pattern," shared an FMG student with EdexLive, on the condition of anonymity.
