Indian medical students who had returned from Ukraine were given two chances to pass the final MBBS exam after a lengthy eight-month review by the SC.

The ruling issued by the bench, comprised of Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath, noted that Ukraine`s doctors will have to complete two years of compulsory rotatory internship. They stated that the first year of the internship will be free and the second year will be paid after passing the Foreign Medical Graduate (FMG) exam.

Mr. RB Gupta, head of the Parents Association of Ukraine Medical Students (PAUMS), welcomed the judgment issued by the apex court. He added that last year, due to the Russo-Ukrainian War, students were not able to attend their KROK-II exams, and hence, they were not awarded degrees by their respective Ukrainian universities.

The Ukrainian Health Ministry conducts the annual KROK (also known as EDKI) licensing exam as a requirement for state certification and to grant a student the qualification of a doctor. In the final year of study in Ukrainian medical schools, students take the KROK-II exam, which is part of the graduation test.

Mr. Gupta added that although it is unclear if the Indian Medical University or its Ukrainian counterpart will bestow the degrees, the FMG exam will be designed by the authorities according to global norms. The exam will be on par with the World Health Organizations (WHO) requirement of passing at least 18 MBBS-related courses.

The PAUMS reported that about 80% of the final-year students have already departed for war-torn Ukraine to complete their practical exams and sit for the KROK-II. The majority of fifth-year students have returned to Ukraine, while some of them have transferred to other nations as part of the academic mobility plan made available by the Ukrainian government. Meanwhile, only 20% of fourth-year students in Ukraine have returned to their universities.

They added that 3000 to 4000 students are completing their studies via an online education program from India. They added that the students in this bulk fall into the bracket of people in their first to third years of study. Hence, they requested that authorities consider these pupils and relax the rules established by the NMC on November 18, 2022. They requested that transfers of first- to third-year students, which are now not permitted, be permitted under a more lenient policy.

(Source: https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/education/sc-judgement-provides-only-partial-resolution-to-ukraine-returned-med-students/99429522 )