Livedr.org

Indian students pose for a picture at Dali Medical College in China (TOI Photo)

If Russia was the destination of choice in the 1980s and 1990s for Indian students who could not make it into medical colleges in India, China has now emerged as the hot favourite. Last year, for instance, nearly 3,000 Indian students took admission in medical colleges in China.

Still in its relatively early years, the trend has already hit a minor roadblock. After complaints from several students who went in the earlier batches about some of the medical universities not having enough professors to teach them in English and about the curriculum, the Chinese government stepped in this year to specify that only 30 medical colleges identified by it can admit foreign students. The medium of instruction will be English in all these colleges.

Of these 30 colleges, only 24 let in foreign students in 2007-08. The total number of seats in these was just about 2,095 for all foreign students, which would include students from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Ghana and Nigeria, though Indians constitute the bulk.

In 2003, the year after the Delhi High Court ordered that students going abroad would need eligibility certificates issued by the Medical Council of India (MCI), 1,595 certificates were issued. Since then the numbers have been climbing steadily, from 2,500 in 2004 to 4,557 in 2006. MCI admits that the bulk of these students is going to China followed by a dwindling number going to Russia.

Russia is not as popular as it once was since it is far more expensive than China, where an MBBS course costs just Rs 5 lakh to Rs 8 lakh. These apart, Mauritius has just one college and there are six or seven in Nepal that take in Indian students. In 2007, only 3,500 certificates were issued, which could be because of the cut in the number of seats in China.

How good is the medical education these students are getting in China? While MCI expresses concern about the quality of education in some Chinese universities, the fact remains that in the Times Higher Education Supplement’s (THES) 2006 listing of top 100 biomedicine universities in the world, three universities from China figure while there is just the IITs from India at 62nd place. Beijing or Peking University is eighth in this list, followed by Tsinghua University at 75th place and Nanjing University at 86th place. Of the top 400 universities listed by THES in 2007, seven are from China and two from India, IIT Bombay and Delhi University. Most of these world-class universities in China figure in the list of 30 universities that China has opened to foreign students.

MCI secretary Lt. Col Dr ARN Setalvad (retd.) felt that while in India a medical college would be allowed to take in 100-120 students depending on how much capacity their facilities could handle, in China, they would take 200-300 students or more. “Obviously, if you take in more students you can offer education at cheaper rates as overheads come down. But what about the quality of the education,” wonders Dr Setalvad. In the case of colleges in Nepal and Mauritius there are no problems as the medical education in these countries is in English and is modelled after the Indian system.

“The scale of operation in these colleges is beyond what the officials here can imagine. The infrastructure is massive and so they can take more students. They don’t build for just a 100 students like we do here, but for 300-400 students or more,” says Sanjeev Kumar of Saraswati Online, an agency for nine medical universities in China that sends about 700 students to China every year. Students from India studying in colleges echo his views. “You would be amazed if you see the infrastructure here. It is as good if not better than most private medical colleges in India. In terms of training it might not be as good as AIIMS. But it is not fair to compare it with AIIMS, which is the best in our country. Then why not compare AIIMS with the best in China like Beijing University or Shanghai Medical University? “asks Gautam Singh, a medical student in China.

Of the total number of foreign students in these medical universities, over 90% are said to be from India, with the rest coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. With the surge in demand from Indian students the Chinese universities have been gradually hiking the fee. “In 2004-05, the fee was in the range of $1,700-2,000. Now in many universities it ranges between $3,000-4,000. It is expected to increase further next year,” says Kumar. It could also be over $5,000 per year in the best university, Beijing University, which would still amount to just over Rs 10 lakh. Gautam also points out that since the students paid in dollars, with the falling value of dollar, the amount will not increase all that much.

In India, most students hail from Andhra Pradesh, followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu. There is a big rush from West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand and the North East too. There is not much rush from Delhi and Punjab, but Uttar Pradesh is fast catching up. Saraswati Online alone has sent about 400 students from UP over the last four years.

“Parents are being taken in by the rosy picture painted by agents of the various Chinese universities. Did any of them bother to find out if they are any good? Did they take the government’s permission before sending their children? If things go wrong they have to bear the brunt of it. We even have students studying medicine in Romania and Tanzania. Who knows what the quality of education there is! Our laws say that as long as they can clear the screening test after completing MBBS they can practise in India,” explains Setelvad, adding that parents misconstrue any warning issued by the MCI as the council’s attempt to help private medical colleges in India.

The hardest hit by Chinese colleges seem be the Indian private medical colleges, some of whom charge Rs 20 lakh per seat. “The medical colleges in China are a blessing for the middle class in India, who cannot afford such a high fee. Many in the government favour private medical colleges. Hence they are trying to run down the medical colleges in China,” says Dr N Laddha of UMCS in Maharashtra, another agency sending students to China.

Zhengzhou University one of the top colleges for INDIAN students in CHINA,because students from the parts of ASIA including PAKISTAN,SRI LANKA,INDIA even from parts of AFRICA started enrolling into this university by early 2002.any how some students had already passed out of china but in a small quantity,but JULY 2008 a TRADE MARK for students pursuing medical @ china as two complete set of students from zhengzhou medical university ans CTGU came out with flying colours

This is the first snap taken by July 2008,when the medical [M.B,B.S] degree was originally issued to the INDIAN medical students who had completed their entire course for five years including a year of internship.

Though many Indian students wanted to work as doctor in INDIA after their course in CHINA,,the GOVERNMENT OF INDIA  requires these students to pass a screening test,now the students are running mad as the pass percentage of that particular exam had gone down in the recent years,may be those students would have waster their study hours ,WHO KNOW’S AND WHO CARE’S

life in china is turning out to be an illusion for INDIAN students because of three main reasons

1.THE ENTIRE COURSE IS NOT 5 YEARS AS THEY WERE PROMISED

2.THE CHINES CURRENCIE R.M.B SHOWED A STEADY GROWTH AFTER THE OLYMPICS 2008,one world one dream

3.THE EDUCATION QUALITY IS JUST EQUAL TO THE PRIVATE MEDICAL COLLEGES OF INDIA

readers just post you comment after reading this artice

BY

LIVEDR.

Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions

Article 29 Standard of fees:
In accordance with Circular on Adjustment of the Standard of Fees for Self-funded International Students in China [Jiaowailai No.7 (1998)] co-issued by Ministry of Education (former as the State Education Commission) and State Development Reform Commission (former as the State Planning Commission), the tuition fees for the undergraduate medical education program for international students in China shall have an increase from 50% to 100%, as compared with the tuition fees of undergraduate liberal arts programs for international students in China. The tuition fee for undergraduate medical education program in English for international students in China is allowed to increase to its maximum.

Article 30 The Ministry of Education will commission the Medical Education Expert Group to assess the teaching quality of the undergraduate medical education program in English for international students in China and to publish the name list of the institutions and scale of admission. The Institutions that are not in the name list will not be allowed to enroll international students for the undergraduate medical program in English.
The Institutions that apply for enrolling international students for the undergraduate medical program in English shall be measured by the Medical Education Expert Group. The qualified institutions will be listed in the coming year’s name list.

Article 31 Stomatology and other undergraduate medical education program in English for international students in China shall be implemented according to these standards and regulations.

Article 32 These standards and regulations will be put into effect after they are issued officially.

Chapter VI Basic Conditions of Institutions

Article 23 Higher educational institutions that enroll international students for the undergraduate medical program in English in China shall have the authority to grant master’s degree in Basic Medicine and Clinical Medicine (First-level Subjects), and the affiliated hospitals with Grade III, Level A.

Article 24 The institutions shall have those teachers who can teach all the subjects in English. The teaching hours of foreign teachers cannot exceed 20% of the total class hours. And each of foreign teachers cannot undertake more than one main course. Foreign teachers shall have the required degree or relevant professional title for the discipline of the course they teach. Foreign teachers in clinical practice courses should have doctor’s license or temporary license in China and their employment shall meet state regulations.

Article 25 The institutions shall have strict regulations to examine teacher’s qualifications and organize training for teachers. Before working at their posts, teachers shall be trained in teaching skills, English proficiency and the policy for international students. Only qualified teachers can work at these posts and the institutions shall offer opportunities for teacher’s further training.

Article 26 The institutions shall have teaching facilities like classrooms, discussion rooms, and laboratories.

Article 27 The institutions shall have the library with English reference materials and professional information to help implement teaching programs and meet the needs of international students’ and teachers’ research activities. The library shall also have the corresponding staff to guide international students and provide computer enquiry service.

Article 28 The institutions shall have clinical teaching base for clinical teaching and internship for international students. The clinical teaching base shall be an affiliated hospital or teaching hospital with Grade III, Level A. The hospital shall provide certain number of beds for international students. The ratio of bed numbers to international students shall also tally with the regulation for Chinese medical undergraduate students.

Chapter V Eligibility and Admission

Article 20 Applicants for the undergraduate medical education program in English for international students in China shall hold a high school diploma and provide high school transcript with good marks. They shall also be in good health and have strong competence in English language. Students from non-native English speaking countries must provide the certificates of learning English in the primary and secondary schools or the certificates of English proficiency test. Moreover, students shall undertake to abide by the Constitution and laws of the People’s Republic of China and school’s regulations during their period of study in China.

Article 21 Applicants shall have reliable economic supports and guarantors. Medical insurance is compulsory during their period of study at the host institution.

Article 22 In order to guarantee the quality of students, admission processes shall be strictly controlled, which include the check of admission qualifications, entrance examinations or assessment. After the approval procedure in accordance with the regulations, the institution will recruit the eligible applicants and the International Student Affairs Office will send them the “Admission Notice” and “Foreign Students to Apply for Visa (JW 202 Form)”.

Chapter IV Teaching and Supervision

Article 15 The institutions shall take students as the center and self-study as the main education contents to actively reform teaching methods and lay great emphasis on developing scientific judgment and learning ability.
Teaching methods include new teaching and learning methods. The guiding, questioning and interactive methods are encouraged to use in teaching activities.

Article 16 The institutions shall establish the entire process of academic performance assessment system for international students and do some research on examination methods. The institutions shall provide clear provisions and notes for student’s assessments to comprehensively assess student’s knowledge, skills, behavior, attitude, and abilities to judge, analyze and solve clinical problems and communicate with others.
Assessment system includes formative assessment system and final evaluation system. The formative assessment system comprises tests, observational records and practice manual. The final evaluation system includes final course and comprehensive graduation examination.

Article 17 The institutions shall ensure that these evaluation activities will help to strengthen realization of the training objectives and satisfy course requirements and improve the learning ability of students. A comprehensive examination focused on practical ability is taken to encourage students to know their subjects from A to Z. The self-assessment is advocated to improve active learning capability. On decision of the amount and nature of examinations, the institutions shall pay attention to the leading roles of examinations and avoid negative effects of examinations.
Upon completion of all examinations, the examination analysis shall be conducted. The analysis results shall be in an appropriate type provided to the students, teachers and teaching staff to improve teaching level. An analysis of tests includes the overall results, the reliability and validity of examinations, difficulty and differentiation of questions, as well as analysis of professional contents.

Article 18 The institutions shall establish supervising and evaluating systems of course planning to improve teaching quality and set up a teaching supervision group in English to oversee the implementation of curriculum planning and the learning progress of international students and to ensure that problems can be found and solved in time.

Article 19 The teaching administration department of institutions shall establish comprehensive management regulations and set up a special office staffed with the corresponding personnel.

Chapter III Curriculum Planning

Article 10 Higher educational institutions that enroll international students for the undergraduate medical education program in English, under the requirements of medical and health service, the development of medical science and changes of medical mode, and in accordance with the standards of undergraduate medical education and the basic requirements of the curriculum by the Ministry of Education, shall plan the curriculum according to the actual requirements of the institutions. The curriculum and its basic requirements shall be defined clearly.

Article 11 The institutions shall integrate the curriculum reasonably. The curriculum shall include compulsory courses and elective courses. The proportion of compulsory courses and elective courses shall be determined according to the actual requirements.

Article 12 The institutions must have a special office which is responsible for the management of curriculum planning and implementation of the curriculum program for international medical students under the guidance of their related departments.

Article 13 The curriculum planning shall include the following three parts:
(1) Chinese culture and natural science courses, including an overview of China’s culture, Chinese language, Chinese medical terminology, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, physical education, etc. It is required to pass the examinations of these courses respectively.
(2) Basic medical sciences, behavioral science, humanities, social science and medical ethics, preventive medicine and clinical medicine. It is also required to pass the examinations of these courses respectively.
Basic medical sciences include human anatomy, histology and embryology, physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, microbiology, human parasitology, pathology, pharmacology, medical immunology, medical genetics, etc. These elements also embody forms of integration courses based on the basic medical sciences.
The courses of behavioral science, humanities, social science and medical ethics usually include medical psychology, medical ethics, social medicine, health economics, health law, health administration, etc.
Preventive medicine course includes epidemiology, health statistics, community prevention, occupational health and safety, environmental health, drug toxicology, food hygiene, nutrition and disease, maternal and child health and primary health care.
Clinical medicine courses typically include diagnosis, imaging diagnostics, internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, lemology, neurology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, stomatology, dermatology, psychiatry and mental health science, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, rehabilitation medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, etc. Clinical abilities include collecting the history, performing physical examinations and laboratory examinations, diagnosis and differential diagnosis, making and implementing the clinical plans and clinical operations, clinical judgment, emergency handling and communication skills. Clerkship is completed in the teaching hospitals of the host institution.
(3) Internship. The institutions shall meticulously organize the reasonable arrangement of the internship. The duration of the internship is one year (at least 48 weeks). The institutions can arrange the students to do their internships in the teaching hospitals of the host institutions or the teaching hospitals affiliated with the medical institutions approved by the Ministry of Health abroad. The institutions shall be strict in accordance with the plans to develop internship contents and requirements, and keep abreast of the development in the internship. After completing the internship, international students must take the graduation examination arranged by the host institution.

Article 14 In order to facilitate their learning and life in China and contact with patients in their medical practice, the Chinese language shall be a compulsory course during the whole undergraduate medical program in English for international students in China.

Chapter II Training Standards

Article 6 The undergraduate medical education program for international students in China shall insist on the following principles:
(1) Teaching of medical knowledge shall be based on solid scientific principles and enable students to develop lifelong learning habits, corresponding clinical skills and appropriate professional ethics.
(2) Undergraduate medical education shall not only focus on the basic principles of medical science and clinical skills, but also develop students’ analytical skills and their ability to make sound judgments based on evidence and experience.
(3) Graduates of the undergraduate medical students shall engage in effective medical practice under the guidance of senior physicians and become independent doctors through further professional education and training.

Article 7 International graduates of the undergraduate medical program shall demonstrate professionalism and ethics quality through exhibiting:
(1) Willingness to dedicate themselves to enhancing the health profession and fostering the well-being of the mind and body;
(2) Good care for patients, recognition of lifelong responsibility to prevent disease and eliminate symptoms, the moral obligation to provide hospice care, and the professional responsibility to safeguard the health interests of human beings;
(3) Ability to uphold principles and make full use of health resources;
(4) Devotion to lifelong learning and continuous self-improvement;
(5) Respect for each individual and their beliefs;
(6) Scientific attitude by seeking truth from evidence and getting help from other doctors when they are unable to solve medical problems by themselves;
(7) Sense of innovation;
(8) Spirit of teamwork;
(9) Ability to practice medicine in accordance with the laws and to use the laws to protect patients and their own rights and interests.

Article 8 International graduates of the undergraduate medical program shall demonstrate the knowledge and understanding of:
(1) Basic Chinese language and today’s China;
(2) Mathematics, physics, chemistry, life science, behavioral science and social sciences, as they are related to medicine, and how to use this knowledge to guide their medical practice;
(3) Body structure and function in human beings, human behavior, and normal state of mind;
(4) Causes of common diseases and frequently-occurring diseases including mental illnesses, the impact of environmental, social, behavioral and psychological factors on the occurrence and development of diseases and the importance of disease prevention;
(5) Pathogenesis, clinical symptoms, diagnosis and preventive ways of common diseases and frequently-occurring diseases;
(6) Basic knowledge of pharmacology and clinical principles of rational drug use;
(7) Normal pregnancy and delivery, common obstetric emergency treatment, principles of prenatal and postnatal health care, and family planning;
(8) Health education and disease prevention, common diseases, disabilities, rehabilitation, hospice care, and general practice;
(9) Knowledge of clinical epidemiology;
(10) Basic patterns of development and spread of infectious diseases, and prevention of common infectious diseases;
(11) Principles of fair and effective distribution of health care services and rational use of limited medical resources;
(12) Basic characteristics of Traditional Chinese Medicine and its application based on an overall analysis of the patient’s condition.

Article 9 International graduates of the undergraduate medical program shall be able to:
(1) Collect medical history comprehensively, systematically and correctly;
(2) Perform systematic and standardized physical and psychiatric examinations and write standard records;
(3) Make and express accurate clinical judgments;
(4) Diagnose and treat common and frequently-occurring diseases in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and other branches of medicine;
(5) Diagnose and treat general emergency cases;
(6) Select appropriate clinical diagnosis and treatment for patients;
(7) Improve treatment methods in medical practice by using the principles of evidence-based medicine;
(8) Communicate with patients and their families effectively and encourage patient cooperation;
(9) Share their experience with doctors and other medical personnel effectively;
(10) Analyze medical problems independently and acquire new knowledge and relevant information based on clinical practice, with the help of library databases and modern information technology;
(11) Publicize relevant knowledge about healthy lifestyles and disease prevention to patients and the general public;
(12) Study more independently and throughout their lives.

（The English translation is for reference only. In case of discrepancy,
the Ministry of Education of P.R.C. reserves the authority for final interpretation.）

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 These provisions are formulated for the purpose of standardizing the management of undergraduate medical education in English for international students in China, ensuring quality teaching and promoting the sound development of education for international students.

Article 2 These provisions apply to the quality control of undergraduate education in English in clinical medicine for international students in China’s higher educational institutions.

Article 3 The teaching plans for the undergraduate medical education program in English for international students in China shall be developed to match the training objectives and requirements of the undergraduate medical education program for Chinese students. The basic requirements for international students shall also match those for Chinese students. On this premise, some appropriate changes and adjustments in the curriculum for Chinese students shall be made to better suit the requirements of the international student’s home country or the third country where students may wish to practice medicine.

Article 4 The overall goal of the undergraduate medical education program in English for international students in China is to train the undergraduate students to develop solid medical knowledge, standardized clinical skills, and an appropriate professional attitude, and to lay the foundation for their further study in medical research, health administration, etc.

Article 5 The length of schooling for the undergraduate medical education program in English for international students in China is six years. On completing the requirements of the teaching program and passing the graduation examinations successfully, international medical undergraduates will be granted a graduation certificate and conferred a medical degree by the host institution, if they meet the degree regulations of the host institution. The English copy of the degree will state MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery).