It is difficult to admit medicos from Ukraine, says RGUHS VC

By Rithu Dravid | NT

Bengaluru: The Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) ViceChancellor, Dr M K Ramesh, has said it is very difficult to admit medical students who returned from Ukraine in the medical colleges in Karnataka. “Not a single seat remains vacant in our medical institutions, so it is difficult to admit 700 Ukrainereturned students from the State,” he told News Trail on Saturday.

Dr Ramesh said the National Medical Commission (NMC) has to take a call on admitting the returned students. “Universities are bound to follow NMC regulations. Let NMC take a decision on the future of these students,” he said.

He said students went to Ukraine on their own volition and if we provide them the relief, Indian students from China, Uzbekistan and Philippines will also raise similar demands. “In such a scenario, the system will collapse. Technical institutions can accommodate students because of seat availability, but medical colleges cannot do that,” he said.

Some medical colleges in the State have announced free education to Ukraine-returned students. BLDEA’s Shri BM Patil Medical College is one such college, which recently admitted 17 students from Vijayapura.

This admission uncertainty has put a lot of pressure on the students. “The State of Ukraine was supposed to conduct two board exams - the Krok 2 (MCQ) and the State exam (Viva on each clinical case) - but the former was cancelled due to war. We are presently having online classes from Ukraine. We will be awarded an online degree after clearing these exams. Our teachers are finding it very difficult to conduct classes. Some of them teach us from the bomb shelters. Ukraine’s neighbouring countries, such as Poland and Russia, had offered that we could continue education in those countries but we haven’t received any details,” says Sindhu Elangovan, a final year student at the Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University, Ukraine.