Key Takeaways:
- More than 23,000 Indian students studying medicine in China are desperate to resume their studies.
- Clinical internships and practical skills application is a requirement to pass the MBBS degree.
- Students have created the hashtag #takeusbacktochina on Twitter.
Indian students studying medicine in China are anxious and desperate to go back and finish their studies. They have long been stranded because of the changing COVID-19 travel restrictions and have been taking online classes. But the study of medicine requires hands-on classes, which are not possible in virtual learning.
One student, Richa Singh, a sophomore Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) student at Xi’an Jiaotong University, said that though she has completed two years of the medical degree online, she has not experienced an actual anatomy dissection, a requirement for the medical course.
Another hurdle most Indian medical students face is that they cannot access most Chinese applications needed for their course. Many students are forced to install virtual private networks (VPNs) to be able to attend their classes.
In 2019, more than 23,000 Indian students went to China to pursue different courses. About 21,000 of them were enrolled to study MBBS.
The second wave of COVID-19 in India slowed down the process of granting entry for Indian students to go back to China. China is currently preparing for the upcoming Winter Olympics, and there is a great chance that students may be allowed to enter the country by September to October this year.
Almost 3,000 medical students have banded together to draw attention to the governments of China and India by creating the hashtag #takeusbacktochina. They voiced their concerns regarding in-person practicals and group work in the universities and colleges in China, which are highly needed in the medical degree.
But China’s Vice Minister of the National Health Commission, Li Bin said that Beijing can’t be lenient with its COVID-19 health and safety rules because of the ongoing pandemic with the Delta variant. At present, China has given out approximately 1.34 billion doses of vaccines. To achieve herd immunity, it needs to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the entire population. From then on, easing of travel restrictions may be possible.
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