MBBS students enrolled in Chinese universities fear losing year

According to the rules in China, MBBS students have to immediately complete a 52-week physical internship in assigned hospitals after finishing their final-year course to be awarded their MBBS degree

Twenty-three-year-old Rajesh P (name changed) would have been able to add the prefix of ‘Dr’ to his name after graduating from China’s Jilin University in July. However, Rajesh and several other final-year MBBS students studying in Chinese universities are staring at a bleak future as they stand to lose a year of their career.

While the first, second and third-year MBBS students are currently attending lectures online, the final-year students are at a loss, as their internship can only be completed once the lockdown restrictions are lifted. (HT File)

According to the rules in China, MBBS students have to immediately complete a 52-week physical internship in assigned hospitals after finishing their final-year course to be awarded their MBBS degree. While the first, second and third-year MBBS students are currently attending lectures online, the final-year students are at a loss, as their internship can only be completed once the lockdown restrictions are lifted.

“I had started my medical internship last January at the First Hospital of Jilin University, when the Covid-19 situation in China started getting out of control. By February, our families back home started getting worried and most of the foreign students flew back home as the country was under severe lockdown restrictions,” said Rajesh, a Santacruz resident, who has been home since February 2020.

“We’ve been writing to several authorities at the university as well as to the Indian Embassy in Beijing for help, but to no avail. Now, the situation in China is much better and we all are ready to abide by the quarantine rules to go back and complete our internship, without which, we stand to lose an entire year of our career,” added Rajesh.

The Embassy of India in Beijing recently released a notification, stating that as of now, there stands no update on the situation. “With reports of resurgence of Covid-19 cases in China, authorities have further reinforced epidemic controls and restrictions on travel and entry into China. The suspension of visas of Indian nationals is an instance of enhanced controls. Chinese authorities have also denied permission for operation of any chartered flights between India and China, citing their strict control measures,” stated the notification.

Another final-year MBBS student, Ishwari Chandran, studying in Zhejiang University at Hangzhou, China, returned to India last January for her winter break and has not been able to go back to finish her course since then. With only a semester and a year-long internship to go to get her degree, Chandran was also to graduate in July 2021. But the graduation of her batch of 25 students, seems to have been deferred indefinitely with foreign students yet to be permitted into the country.

“I need to complete my 52-week internship. As I can’t return to China, our university has asked us to go ahead with our internship in any other country and submit proofs of completing it by March,” Chandran said. However, to pursue a medical internship in India, those studying abroad need to clear the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) held twice a year. “We missed the earlier round of exam held in the first week of December. The next round will be in June. What do we do till then?” said Chandran, who has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking relaxation in the FMGE rule for internships.

Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy notification also stated that with the Chinese authorities repeatedly saying that the restrictions are unlikely to be relaxed in the coming months, students should continue education through online mode. “While the embassy is aware of the difficulty of undertaking courses in medicine in online format, students are advised to take note of the restrictions in place and make appropriate arrangements for continuing their education.”

Neha S (name changed), a third-year MBBS student at Jianghan University, Wuhan, said, “We’ve studied two semesters online. Now we’ve been told another semester will be online. Medical students learn more from practical experience rather than theory. Other countries have started taking back foreign students but China hasn’t.”