Nepalese medical students studying abroad should be allowed to do their internship in Nepal. I believe that the NMC (Nepal Medical Council) must clear its stance especially when the applet court has already issued a directive in favour of the students. The sole purpose of establishing NMC was to ensure that students taking medicine courses received quality education weather it is in Nepal or abroad. Studying medicine or any other course for that matter, in a foreign country might not be the first choice for an individual. For instance, we find that every year some 15 to 20,000 Nepalese students appear for medical entrance tests conducted by MOE, IOM, KU, BPKH and others, most of them for MBBS. However, the number of seats provided combining all these institutions (including full and partial scholarship) is not more than 500. The rest of the students are left in limbo either to join private colleges in Nepal which are very expensive, quit the dream of becoming a doctor or enrol in a foreign medical institution.
The idea of joining a foreign medical institution is simple. It’s economical; almost half of the price than what it takes to complete the same course in Nepal and the seats are readily available. The readily availability of seats is not due to lack of local students or because the medical institution is not up to the standard, but simply because their infrastructure is so huge that the respective country’s medical council allocates them with a bulk of seats often 200 slots in a year, unlike in Nepal where the maximum an institution can have is 60 seats. Furthermore, you do not need to be politically well connected or run from ‘pillar to post’ to get discounts. Normally, most of the medical institutions abroad provide scholarships and grants to attract foreign students and boost their international reputation and presence.
The current figure suggests that till date more than 3,000 Nepalese students are enrolled in foreign medical institutions ranging from Post Graduate to MBBS, BDS & Nursing. Every year some odd 300-400 students apply in Nepal Medical Council to get their ‘Eligibility Certificate’ for studying medicine abroad. Sadly, most of those 15-20,000 don’t even make it to the foreign institutions due to the acute shortage of funds. They keep trying hard for almost 3-4 years clinging to a hope that someday they might be able to crack the entrance tests, but very few make it, since every year a fresh wave of +2 graduates enter making it more competitive.
Since English may not be the first language in those countries, there is always a communication gap even if the lectures are held in English. The major problem a student faces is during his/her clinical exposure where they have to interact with the local language speaking patients admitted in hospitals. Ironically, this is the year where a student hones his skill and becomes a complete doctor. All the text learning for years comes to its climax.
Internship must be provided in Nepal and there should not be any debate about it. Ask any doctor new or old, and you will find that majority of them, if not all, agrees to it. Financially, on an average a student spends around 4-5 lakh rupees every year which includes his tuition fee, visa, food and accommodation and other misc. expenses. Letting the student complete his/her internship in Nepal not only makes him a better doctor but also saves the money which was bound to be spent in a foreign land. If we calculate on an average of 400 students then the amount stands to a staggering 200 Million Rupees annually. This I suppose is not a small figure for an improvised country like ours where most of the time students sell their land or some property to compensate their educational funds.
The Medical council of India (MCI) has allowed its citizens to complete their internship in India itself. Since they cannot control the neck breaking tuition fee of Indian intuitions, they simply make it easier for those students who opted for foreign institutions for one reason or the other. Another reason can be clearly understood that MCI wants its doctors to be properly trained for local diseases before they are given the licence to practice. One more reason is to encourage the doctors to stay in India and stop from being “brain drained” into other countries by providing them favourable conditions for internship.
Now the question arises ‘Why is NMC in no mood to allow its own citizens to do their internship even after the Appellate court’s verdict?’ The answer is not very far. Deep rooted politics and benefit to very few individuals who do not want this to happen. Also there is a fear that if the students are allowed to do their internship then most of the medical institutions in Nepal will gradually lose their business.
It’s high time that NMC should understand the situation and act wisely instead of forcing our educated younger generation to take stern measures like hunger strike and street protests when they should be in hospitals attending to some needy patient.
Rabindra Dahal (Educational Consultant) [email protected]