The Centre has agreed with the Supreme Court that medical students who have returned from war-torn Ukraine and China in their penultimate year of studies pose a ‘humane problem’. To address this issue, the government-appointed committee has proposed a “one-time option” for these students.

 

This option will enable them to clear the MBBS Final, both theory (Part I) and practical (Part II) examinations as per the National Medical Commission (NMC) syllabus and guidelines. The theory exam could be conducted centrally and physically on the pattern of the Indian MBBS examination and practical could be conducted by some designated government medical colleges assigned the responsibility.

 

After clearing these two exams, the students will have to complete two years of compulsory rotary internship, first year of which will be free and the second year paid as has been decided by the NMC for previous cases.

 

The States, during consultations, had voiced their reservation on the quality of education and training the foreign medical graduates might have received abroad. They had also expressed reservations about accommodating them in colleges midway during the medical year. However, the Centre has made it clear that this will be a strictly one-time option and not become a basis for similar decisions in future.

 

The Russia-Ukraine crisis has had a major impact on the lives of many medical students who had gone to pursue their medical education in Ukraine and China. The one-time option proposed by the government-appointed committee will help these students in completing their medical education and pursue their career in the medical field. It will also help in ensuring that these students receive quality education and training and that their medical degrees are recognized in India.

 

Main Exam Questions

 

1. Critically analyze the "one-time option" proposed by the government-appointed committee to address the "humane problem" faced by medical students who have returned from war-torn Ukraine and China in their penultimate year of studies. 

 

2. How will the "one-time option" proposed by the government-appointed committee help in ensuring that the medical students who have returned from war-torn Ukraine and China receive quality education and training and that their medical degrees are recognized in India? What are the possible challenges in implementing this option and how can they be addressed?