Health Ministry meeting to decide the fate of Ukraine-returned medical students

"It's a welcome directive given by the Supreme Court over the fate of the Indian medical students. In fact, we have also appealed to the government to accommodate the medical students who had to leave their studies mid-way due to the Ukraine crisis," said Indian Medical Association (IMA) president Dr. Sahajanand P Singh to ETV Bharat.

New Delhi: A development that could give some relief to the Indian medical students who returned from war-ravaged Ukraine, the Union Health Ministry is likely to sit next week for a discussion on the issue of accommodating them in Indian medical institutes.

The development, however, took place after the National Medical Commission (NMC) wrote to the ministry seeking suggestions over Supreme Court's (SC) direction to help Indian medical students who were severely affected by the Russia-Ukraine war. The commission has recently written to the health ministry saying that the apex court has asked the regulatory body to frame a scheme within two months.

"It's a welcome directive given by the Supreme Court over the fate of the Indian medical students. In fact, we have also appealed to the government to accommodate the medical students who had to leave their studies mid-way due to the Ukraine crisis," said Indian Medical Association (IMA) president Dr. Sahajanand P Singh to ETV Bharat. If the government doesn't take any positive steps, their (medical students) fate will remain uncertain, he said.

In a recent letter sent to the health ministry, the NMC has asked for its view on SC's directives to frame a scheme allowing MBBS students of foreign-based universities affected by the Ukraine crisis as well as the pandemic and complete the clinical training in medical colleges in India.

It is worth mentioning that the apex court, last month while hearing an appeal of NMC against a Madras High Court order asking it to provisionally register MBBS graduate of a Chinese University, was of the view that there was nothing wrong in denying the provisional registration as, without practical training, there can not be any doctor who is expected to take care of the citizens.

Significantly, in a circular issued in March, the NMC has said that the foreign medical graduates with incomplete internships due to situations like Covid19 or war can finish their internship in India.