China emerging as new destination for Indian students for MBBS

Ahmedabad, Apr 14 (UNI) After Russia, China is now attracting more and more students from India for its international MBBS programmes.

Stating this, Mr Partha Sarathi Ganguli, who heads a company which facilitates overseas education for students, today said there has been a remarkable increase in interest among students for educational opportunities in China. ''Our company had sent 93 students in 2004 to Chinese medical colleges and in 2005, the number exceeded 600,'' he said.

His company, Saraswat online, has tie-ups with six Chinese medical colleges including the Luzhou Medical College in Sichuan, Jinan University in Guangzhou and Dali University in Yunnan, to which it helps students get admissions. These are all WHO-listed medical colleges, hence students will not have any problems after they pass out, he said.

Students with 50 per cent marks in their plus 2 exams (in Physics, Chemistry and Biology) are eligible for some of these Universities, while for Jinan University the cut-off is 75 per cent.

The graduates from these Universities can practice in India after they clear the screening examination held by National Board of Examinations (NBE) in New Delhi. The test comprises--pre-clinical, clinical and para-clinical sections which the students must clear, he said. After this, they will first be given provisional registration and be attached to medical college or senior doctors for training for a year or so. ''It is necessary as they will get acclimatised to the system here under able guidance,'' he pointed out.

He said his company is in the process of setting up infrastructure to help in orienting the pass-outs to appear for the NBE exams, which have been made mandatory by the Medical Council of India.

The Chinese institutions have world class infrastructure and facilities, and students from the US, Canada, Sweden and other countries are studying there, he said.

But Mr Ganguli said the students may face a few problems. First, language could be a roadblock to one's adapting to the new land.

''Majority of people do not know English, so it becomes absolutely necessary to learn Chinese. Food can also be a problem as it is totally different from ours.'' He also said Saraswati online is trying to get Chinese students to India to enrol in Information Technology and English courses in Bangalore. ''India can emerge as a big English language learning hub for South Asia. Last year 30 Chinese students had come to Bangalore for IT and English. This year, we aim to get at least 200 students,'' he said.

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