Ukraine-returned medical students: ‘It’s ok, not all dreams come true’ | Education News,The Indian Express
Scrubs and stethoscope, and the Dr prefix to their names — these were the stuff of dreams as they left for Ukraine. With the war forcing Indian medical students to return home and the road ahead uncertain, some are considering dropping out of medicine and picking alternative courses and careers.
The war in Ukraine, now in its eighth month, not only forced Indian students studying medicine there to return home but also gutted their careers, leaving some of the students struggling with a pile of debt and the frustration of settling for less prestigious courses such as nursing.
The Sunday Express spoke to four second-year students of Bukovinian State Medical University in Chernivtsi, western Ukraine, who said they felt helpless after their return from Ukraine and have had to shift streams and enrol in courses such as BSc, BBA and nursing.
Anand A, who is from Kollam in Kerala, was in his second year at Bukovinian State Medical University when the war erupted, forcing him to flee the country with other Indian students. Anand had taken a student loan of Rs 15 lakh, which was meant to cover the six-year course fee in Ukraine.
“When I joined the university, I was asked to enroll for the semester starting in December 2020, but my flight got cancelled and I reached three days late. They refused to admit me and told me to join the next semester. It was not possible to return home, so I paid Rs 1.5 lakh extra for a foundation course. By the time I returned to India, I had spent Rs 3 lakh of my bank loan and Rs 5-6 lakh of my parents’ savings on flights, food, stay, etc.,” Anand said.
In the last week of February, as war broke out between Ukraine and Russia, thousands of Indian students enrolled in medical colleges there were evacuated to India. While first- and second-year students were advised to re-appear for NEET — the pre-medical test for students who aspired for a career in medicine — and take fresh admissions, while the senior-year students were allowed to continue online classes. However, these students were later told that they would be allowed to continue online classes only for theoretical courses, not practical work, which meant that they had to return to Ukraine or take a transfer to another country for continuing medical studies.
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