Students wishing to pursue medical studies in China were given a thorough warning on Sunday by the Indian Embassy in Beijing.
According to the press release, “The Embassy continues to receive questions from prospective Indian students as well as their parents regarding eligibility for Indian students who are pursuing clinical medicine programmes in China to appear in the qualifying examination held by the National Medical Commission of India.” It directed Indian medical students and their parents to see the National Medical Commission’s Gazette Notification of November 18, 2021. (NMC).
The requirement that international medical students be “registered with the respective professional regulatory body or otherwise, competent to grant the licence to practise medicine in their respective jurisdiction of the country in which the medical degree is awarded and at par with the licence to practise medicine given to a citizen of that country” has been unambiguously stated in Clause 4(b), according to the press release.
The Embassy also informed the relevant Chinese authorities and medical colleges of the situation and requested that they make sure that all Indian students coming to China for clinical medicine programmes receive the necessary instruction, preparation, and support to enable them to meet the aforementioned NMC requirements.
The announcement stated that any student who enrols in a clinical medicine programme in China after November 2021 and does not get a licence to practise medicine in China would be ineligible to sit for the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination.
The Embassy also answered a question on whether Indian students who complete their medical study in China but do not receive a medical practitioner licence there can work in Chinese hospitals in a position such as “assistant doctor” in order to support themselves and pay off student loans.
“To establish the availability of such a choice, the Embassy has formally contacted the pertinent Chinese authorities. When the Embassy receives information from the Chinese side, it will post it on its social media accounts “the announcement stated.
Before considering possibilities to enrol in clinical medicine programmes in China, the Indian Embassy further urged all potential Indian students to consult past advisories and the pertinent NMC rules.
Before accepting such admission, prospective students and parents were encouraged to personally confirm all terms of reference with the appropriate University(ies) in China, according to the announcement.
Notably, China started providing visas to foreign students who were granted permission to return to their home institutions and colleges in China in order to continue their studies. However, they have trouble getting to China because neither nation has started flying again.
According to reports, around 23,000 Indian students, most of whom are studying medicine, are stranded abroad because of COVID visa limitations.
In July, China declared that it had made progress toward making it easier for Indian students to return and that it was coordinating with the necessary agencies to ensure that the first batch of Indian students may return to China as soon as possible to continue their studies.
The National Board of Examination report that showed that just 6387 out of 40,417 students who took the FMG Examination between 2015 and 2021 passed it was also provided by the Indian Embassy.
The need to hastily handle the return of Indian students to China so they may start attending classes at an early date was previously highlighted by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar during his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
On March 25, Jaishankar and Wang Yi met in an attempt to enable the homecoming of Indian students.
According to the Indian Embassy in China, the Chinese side had earlier in April stated its willingness to take into account facilitating the return of Indian students to China based on necessity.
