Quality medical education draws more foreign students

5 April 2010, 18:00 PM

Mahbuba Zannat

An increasing number of foreign students is coming to study medical education in Bangladesh. In recent years, 500 to 550 foreign students entered the medical education every year, which was only 150 five years back. In under graduate public medical institutions, there are some 50 seats for foreign students under the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation quota and 45 seats under non-Saarc quota. "But, more students are coming nowadays beyond the quota for receiving quality medical education from Bangladesh that would boost the image of the country and at the same time it earns huge foreign currency," said Khondhaker Mohammad Shefyetullah, director for medical education of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). A total of 173 foreign students from 16 countries applied for admission in MBBS course at the public medical colleges here in 2009-10 session. And except the 95 students, all are going to the country's different private medical institutions, DGHS sources said. Students are coming from Malaysia for the last three years, which is a very good sign as previously students were used to come from Nepal, Sri Lanka and other Saarc countries only. But, in the last session students from Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Iraq and Italy also got admitted to different medical colleges in Bangladesh. The course fee for a foreigner student in public medical institutions is $US 15,000, which varies from $25,000 to $30,000 at the private medical colleges that is cheaper than many other countries. But the main important thing here is the field for practical education is really vast in this populous country, said the experts. The DGHS officials said the governments from different countries have been trying to increase their quota in the medical system here. A team from the health ministry of Malaysia came to Bangladesh last year and visited some of the private and public medical colleges to test the feasibility to send more students here. "Malaysia thinks of sending one hundred medical students here in Bangladesh. In recent past, they used to produce health professionals from Egypt," said Dr Shefyet. While talking to The Daily Star, Dr MA Zaman, principal of Bangladesh Medical College, said the number of foreign students got admitted in the medical colleges has been doubled this year. "The number of students from Canada, USA and Nepal are increasing day by day. Last year some seven students got admitted to the different colleges. But, this year the number rose to 14," he said adding that along with the quality, the cost of medical education is relatively cheap here especially comparing with those of Indian medical colleges. All the medical institutions in Bangladesh are following the same curriculum that was prepared in assistance with the World Health Organisation (WHO). The comprehensive course curriculum 2001-03 is also followed in the South East Asia Regional Office (SEARO) countries including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Abul Hossain Ansari, a foreign student who got admitted to Mymensingh Medical College in 1999, said at that time the number of private medical colleges was very limited. "With the increase of private medical colleges, there is a significant increase in the number of foreign students," said a Nepali doctor, who is now working as a lecturer of Public Health at Atish Dipankar University. "From the quality side, Bangladesh is second in the Saarc region after India."