How do you feel about heading abroad for an MBBS? It is no more an impossible dream. With Health Care Management Institute (HCMI) to hold your hand, getting a medical degree from the Phillipines is just a matter of time.

The Singapore-based institute that facilitates medical education for aspiring doctors in many Asian countries is all set to expand its operations base in eastern India and will set up counselling units in Siliguri, Asansol and Guwahati. The first one was set up in Calcutta last year.

HCMI Education has partnered with the top 10 medical universities in the Philippines to offer MBBS degrees to foreign students. The course fee is around Rs 4.25 lakh per year, including tuition, lodging and boarding (twin sharing basis), not even as high as that of some of the private institutes in the country. This makes the idea of studying abroad much more feasible for candidates hailing from middle class families.

Says Provosh Chandra Sardar, a small-time businessman from Behala, “My daughter always wanted to study abroad. She secured about 60 per cent in the Higher Secondary examination and we decided to send her to the Phillipines.”

Current trends show that after China, the Philippines seems to be the next destination for aspiring doctors from India. However, a good percentage of the applicants are those who fail to crack the WBJEE.

“Launched last year, HCMI has already helped a little over 100 students from 18 states in India study MBBS in the Philippines,” says Baljit Singh, managing director, HCMI, Singapore. “India is a storehouse of talent and there is a huge demand for Indian medical professionals in the US as well as the global health sector, so we are expanding our presence in India to tap it’s latent talent.”

HCMI Education provides students information about quality medical schools, the course and the fee structure as well as assistance in processing student visas. It even provides counselling and guides candidates step-by-step through the application process. It also provides loan assistance. All the student has to do is get in touch with the zonal office.

The reason MBBS courses in the Phillipines are so unique is because the syllabus matches the one offered in India but is in the American format — the best of both worlds. “Perhaps the fact that the Philippines is the second largest exporter of medical talent to the US is making it a hot destination for medical students,” says Himanshu Sharma, head of operations (east and northeast India), HCMI, Calcutta. The fact that applicants don’t need to learn an additional language is the other reason that the Philippines is fast becoming a favourite. “Language is a major problem,” says Sharma. “For applying to colleges in Russia or China it’s mandatory to know the local language. But here there is no such compulsion.” The students just have to appear for an online test. “The test is very simple. You don’t need to be an Einstein to crack it,” confirms Sardar, whose daughter is in the second semester in a medical college in the Philippines.

The reasonable expense is the prime attraction, feels Sardar. “As the cost of study is low and the institutes or universities offer full assistance to get a job in West Asia, Malaysia and Indonesia, a lot of students from eastern India have got in touch with HCMI Education’s regional centre at Salt Lake,” says Sharma. “Counselling will be on till say another week and then the applicants would have to take an online entrance exam.”

If a student wants to return to India after completing the course, HCMI makes arrangements for that too. “We help the students who want to return to the country by obtaining an eligibility certificate from the Medical Council of India (MCI), before admitting them to any HCMI universities in the Philippines. This is in accordance with the eligibility requirement of taking admission in an undergraduate medical course in a foreign medical institution under the regulation act of 2002,” informs Singh. On completion of the course, the student has to clear a screening test conducted by the National Board of Examinations after which he or she will be registered with MCI.

Singh says, “The medical institutes with which HCMI Education has tied up to provide MBBS degrees to Indian students are all accredited under the Commission of Higher Education, government of Philippines.” The University of Northern Philippines, the Davao Medical School Foundation, Cagayan State University and the Emilio Aguinaldo College are some of those with whom HCMI has a tie-up.

“We have also started a national-level admission test, as a pilot project, in Jharkhand this year. From next year the examination will be held across the country for the next session,” he said.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)