Three medical siblings from Siwan, Bihar, have chosen a unique path for their careers by turning into educational consultants for aspiring MBBS students wishing to opt for foreign universities. This was because they failed to clear the Foreign Medical Graduate Exam (FMGE), which is a mandatory requirement to be eligible to practice in India after earning a medical degree abroad.
Mrinal Jha (name changed) pursued his MBBS in China in 2012. His younger sibling opted for Poland to study MBBS, while the youngest of the siblings chose Georgia for his medical studies. Upon completing their education and returning to India, the trio initially planned to open a hospital in their hometown. However, as this plan did not materialize, they now operate a consultancy business to assist MBBS aspirants in securing admissions to foreign universities.
According to reports, approximately 25,000 Indian students secure admissions to foreign medical universities every year. However, only a few of them get the license to practice in India after clearing the FMGE. This is evident in the following figures: In 2023, 10.6% of students cleared the FMGE; in 2022, it was 39%, whereas it was 23.83%, 14.68%, and 25.79% for the years 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively.
Mrinal and his siblings work with foreign universities where they have studied, and using their contacts, they help Indian medical aspirants secure admissions abroad. These universities pay them 500 to 700 USD per admission, and till date they have secured more than 1000 admissions for students, which helped them earn around 4 crores in 2023. These universities are in Poland, Georgia, Uzbekistan, China, etc. Earlier, they used to work with Ukrainian universities too, but this option has been closed due to the recent Ukraine-Russia war.
Mrinal added that they counsel the aspiring students about the available options and guide them to select the universities based upon their budget and choice. Further, they help with the admission process and visa formalities too. It's end-to-end support with Mrinal and his siblings helping them settle in the new country, as they take care of the accommodation and food too.
Priya (name changed), the younger sibling, says that they intend to further expand their services and open hostels with Indian mess for students studying abroad. They have opened the first one in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and the response has been phenomenal. She further added that the affordable fees at foreign universities are a big attraction for students. They avoid taking commissions and instead accept the fees that the universities offer them and charge nominal fees from students to assist in the visa process and other formalities. Overall, they keep everything transparent for the students.
Mrinal and his siblings continue to sit for the FMGE exams biannually and are still unsure whether they will be able to clear the exams. They had all together spent 60 lakhs of rupees on fees to earn their MBBS degree. Their father had to sell everything to fund their studies. Since they did not want to sit idle and not practice as quacks, as they don’t have a valid license to practice, they decided to go ahead with this venture as it’s legal.
Mrinal further added that the foreign universities offer fancy designations like ‘Dean for International Students’ or ‘Official Admission Partner’, but they have still not accepted these as they are still attempting to clear the FMGE.
(Inputs from various media agencies)
(Rehash/Dr. Sushmita Ganguli)