Amidst the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the only concern that is troubling the whole country the most is the safe return of Indian students from the war zone. From family members to the central government, all day long, all Indian students should be taken out of the stressed area by any means. About 18,095 Indian students were stranded in Ukraine. Only a few of these have been able to return to India, while efforts are still on to evacuate about 15,000 students from there. For this, the Airlift campaign is being run by the Government of India and Air India.

Most of the Indian students stranded in Ukraine are medical students. That is, those students who went to Ukraine to fulfill their dream of becoming a doctor. But it is also very important to know that why every year such a large number of Indian students go to Ukraine to study medicine? There is no one reason for this. Let us know some of the main reasons?

Affordable medical education in Ukraine

Deepak Gupta, Medical Career Counselor and Faculty of reputed NEET coaching based in Kota, explains that studying medicine in Ukraine is economical as well as more convenient in many ways. Whereas, on the basis of the proportion of population in India, adequate resources of medical education are not available. Therefore, every year a large number of Indian students reach countries like Ukraine to pursue MBBS and BDS studies.

The cost of education is half as much as in India

According to Gupta, the cost of medical education in Ukraine is less than half that of private colleges in India. Where annual medical studies in government colleges of India cost about 2.5 to 3 lakh rupees. Whereas in private institutions, the same fee falls around 10 lakh to 15 lakh every year. That is, the cost of five years of medical education in private colleges of India ranges from about 75 lakh to 80 lakh rupees. If the college is reputed, then this expenditure reaches up to Rs 1 crore. At the same time, the fees for MBBS studies in Ukraine range between two to four lakh rupees annually. That is, the cost of complete education for five years is about 25 lakh to 30 lakh rupees.

Lack of seats compared to applicants

According to NEET Faculty Deepak Gupta, the number of seats in India is very less as compared to the applicant candidates. Every year lakhs of students in India participate in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical courses. In comparison, only 10% of the candidates get admission in government colleges. Because, there are only 88 thousand seats of MBBS in India. At the same time, BDS has only 27 thousand 498 seats. In 2021, around eight lakh students took the NEET exam. It is clear from this that about seven lakh of these students do not get admission.

No separate entrance exam required

Apart from this, to study MBBS or BDS from Ukraine, there is no separate entrance exam like NEET or donation etc. Here the admission process is conducted twice a year in September and January. Here one gets admission only after qualifying the NEET exam of India, the rank of NEET does not matter. Therefore, most of the students who are unable to enroll in India take admission in institutions in Ukraine.

Global acceptance of Ukrainian medical degrees

One of the advantages of studying medicine from Ukraine is that the degree here is globally accepted. It is recognized by the World Health Council, the Indian Medical Council and the European Medical Council. Due to this, medical students studying here can practice in many big countries including America, UK, Europe. Hence, Ukraine is becoming the first choice abroad for most of the Indian students.

Ukraine’s health infrastructure is also strong

Ukraine has a strong health sector infrastructure due to its technologically rich, low population and rich in natural resources. Here Ukraine competes with many big countries in terms of health infrastructure. Like in India, students here also get a good practice experience. That’s why thousands of Indian students prefer Ukraine to study medicine.