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MINIMUM SCORE REQUIREMENT OF 50 PC EXEMPTS STUDENTS FROM ENTRANCE TEST
Russian medical schools cheaper for Indians
Express News Service
Pune, May 29: Even if Russian salad in Pune’s five star hotels burns a hole in your pocket, education in the former soviet union is far from it. Tagged between Rs 12 lakh to Rs 16 lakh (US $ 5,000 per year), a five-year medical graduation in any of the 48 Russian universities is an assured breather for ambitious parents and students. What more? If you score a minimum of 50 per cent in physics, chemistry and biology (PCB), you are exempted entrance and language tests.
The Great American Dream apart, education’s newest destination, Russia, offers much more with little toil. The Consulate General of the Russian Federation offers 500 educational courses (specialties), be it diploma, bachelors and post graduation studies. In collaboration with International Foundation for studies and Culture (IFSC), an Indian body, education in Russia is not as tough. Since 1953, when the closed-door union welcomed Indians to study in their colleges, the number has grown. In the past four years, over 800 Indians have enrolled for degrees and diploma every year. The Russian Consulate claims that over 1.1 lakh foreign students study there.
During a seminar held at President Hotel on Saturday, the Consulate and IFSC drew 125 registrations for medical courses. So far the three-people team has toured Kolkata, Bangalore and Pune, with Mumbai and Delhi on the list.
To notch maximum admissions, universities have exempted students from any form of entrance and language tests. An evaluation exam is conducted prior to the first semester of med-school, which is a merely an assessment of student quality. Depending on the grades achieved by each student, groups are created, that decides the quality and quantum of personal assistance by professors.
Priced between Rs 12 lakh to Rs 16 lakh, a medical degree comes at half the price pegged at private medical colleges in India. This fee is exclusive of lodging and boarding. The medical degree is recognised in USA, Europe and Australia after a bilateral agreement of recognition was signed between the off-shore countries and Russia.
A hundred percent bank loan assistance is available for the medical course. Students are covered under life insurance and compulsory health insurance.
Russia is an old frontier as far as medicine is concerned. Pharmaceutical bigwigs, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Ranbaxy and Unique Laboratories have set up their manufacturing units in Russia, over a decade back.