CHICAGO: Medical students in this country studying aboard, many of Indian origin, are unnerved at the prospect of the US government seeking to limit their accessibility to the student loans.
US Senator Dick Durbin has announced plans to introduce a bill that would change federal loan rules for foreign medical schools. Under the bill, US students at foreign medical schools would only be eligible to participate in the federal loan program if at least 60 percent of the student body at their schools is made up of non-US citizens, and secondly, the school maintains a 75 percent pass rate on the US Medical Licensing Examination.
The students opt to go abroad for a variety of reasons but mainly because of the fact that medical slots at the US universities are relatively limited and that a good number of students find it hard to get admission. Universities abroad offer a great opportunity to them to fulfill their dream without compromising the quality of education.
A number these schools offering this option are located in Caribbean countries, Europe and even in India. They have tuned themselves to meet the educational standards set here for the local universities. Besides, many have established links with the hospitals here for rotations and practical training.
The students graduating from these universities have to appear for the USMLE, the board certifying exam that US University students are also expected to pass before getting residency in US hospitals. And admittedly many have done this successfully
The standards for the students who study here and those who have their education abroad are the same. This goes a long way in ensuring that those who had their medical degree aboard would not turn out to be “inferior” in any way to the students of universities in this country, says Avi Verma, President of North Shore Medical Education and an avid supporter of students going aboard for medical studies.
Students from North America and Europe choose to study medicine at medical schools in Australia, Caribbean, Ireland, Eastern Europe and India.
Some schools in countries like the Czech Republic and Australia also allow students to enter a four year program without a completed undergraduate degree (as several medical schools in Canada do), allowing some students to finish their medical training earlier than if they had waited to apply in their home country.
Avi Verma says that most of the students who had their education in Caribbean countries get residency in US and Canada and ultimately become doctors. The success rate is about 80 to 85% he said. “They become doctors and go higher up the ladder too. So why discriminate against them or potential candidates aspiring to be doctors,” he asked.
The proposed bill by Senator Durbin will put the U S students studying medicine abroad at great disadvantage vis-a-vis the US students. These students, says Verma, are already at great a financial and other disadvantage that is associated with studying in a different country with different environment.
Senator Durbin should rather be pushing for increasing the medical slots in the US universities so that many students desirous of getting medical education would not face difficulties getting admission here, says a student pursuing education in a Caribbean country.
In just over a decade the United States will need 130,000 more doctors than medical schools are producing, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. A doctor shortage looms large on the horizon and this will drive up wait times, shorten office visits and make it harder for Americans to access the care they need. Shortage forecasters point to two major factors. One is an aging population. The proportion of Americans who are 65 and older will increase to 19 percent in 2030 from 12.9 percent today, according to federal projections.
Second, Obamacare will insure 30 million more Americans by the end of the decade, dramatically increasing demand for physicians. Extrapolating forward from today’s 2.4 physicians per 1,000 Americans would mean we will need at least 90,000 more physicians by 2020, or so the reasoning goes.
Many do feel that there is a fat chance this bill will gain wide support in the Senate or House of Representatives, for several reasons. The enactment of such a bill would endanger the nation’s ability to meet its need for physicians, threaten the professional career goals of qualified students and negatively impact the health and well-being of thousands of Americans just as they enter the health care system via the Affordable Care Act.
Ramesh Soparawala
India Post News Service
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