The Indian government reported to the Lok Sabha that over 7,50,000 students traveled abroad for higher education in the past year.
MoS Dr. Bharati Pawar stated that 7,50,365 students sought higher education overseas in 2022. The number has seen an increase from 5,18,015 students in 2018 and 5,86,337 students in 2019. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of students studying abroad dropped to 2,59,655 students in 2021.
In response to a question about medical students studying abroad, Dr. Pawar stated that around 1.2 million Indian students are studying abroad across all fields, but specific data on Indian medical students studying abroad is not available.
She also shared that 3,964 Indian medical students have enrolled in the "Academic Transfer Programme" and around 170 students have enrolled in the "Academic Mobility Programme."
The latter is a temporary relocation to different universities abroad, while the former is a permanent transfer to a new medical school in a foreign country.
Dr. Pawar also stated that there are no provisions for admitting foreign medical students in Indian medical institutes and that the National Medical Commission has not granted permission for foreign medical students to transfer to Indian medical institutes.
In response to concerns about the safety of students studying abroad, Dr. Pawar stated that the Indian Mission in various countries is in constant contact with local authorities, universities, and institutes to ensure the safety of students.
She also mentioned a scheme by the National Medical Commission for Indian students who had to leave their foreign medical institutes due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. These students, who have been granted a certificate of completion by their respective institute, can take the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination and complete a two-year Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship to make up for the clinical training they missed and to familiarize them with the practice of medicine in India. The foreign medical graduates can only be registered after completing the two-year internship.