Holding a Masters in Psychology, Geeta Jain has over 13 years of experience in Counselling Students. She has counselled more than 4500 students and guided more than 2000 students to pursue MBBS in various foreign medical universities. Geeta Jain founded Mediconation to open doors of opportunities for Indian Medical aspirants and to fill the gap of Medical professionals in India. In an email interaction with Higher Education Digest, Geeta Jain talks about the possible changes in medical education around the world.
How has been the impact of COVID-19 on International Education so far? How will it affect the upcoming academic years?
The Impact of Covid-19 on international education entirely depends on the longevity of travel restrictions imposed by various governments. This pandemic has created devastating effects on every sphere of the economy, and the global education sector is also not untouched. Everything depends upon the new travel policy and student visa regime of our country as well as other countries. All university campuses are shut down due to COVID-19; this is not only causing economic loss but also affecting the academic cycle. The academic cycle is getting delayed, and even after switching to online platforms, students are lagging behind the academic timelines.
India fought well against the virus comparing to the many developed countries. How will it impact the medical education sector? Are we going to see more international students preferring India as their education destination?
India has tackled well with the COVID-19 crisis, and it is adding to the positive international image of our nation. This will boost the investment in our health care sector and the medical education sector as well. As far as the inflow of international students to India is concerned, India will gain popularity among international students. There are fair chances that India will become a preferred education destination internationally.
Post-COVID, due to expected restrictions on emigration delay in the international admission process, are we going to see more Indian students opting to stay back and study in Indian universities? What is your take on it?
Yes, we can expect that more Indian students will opt to stay back and to enrol in Indian universities instead of going abroad. Due to COVID-19 crisis, people are preferring to stay in their home country rather than going abroad. After considering the situation, I would say, the priority of this year is to be safe and healthy wherever we are.
What are the opportunities for Indian medical institutes post-COVID? How can we utilize these opportunities to become one of the best higher education systems in the world?
There will be a more significant investment in medical education as well as the health care sector in post-COVID times. This pandemic has revealed how important is the role of health care professionals and industry in building a sound economy. We should utilize this opportunity by focusing on enhancing the medical education standards and facilities for national as well as international students.
Will there be a change in the list of favourite countries for medical studies after COVID? What are the countries you expect to be on the top? Why?
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, countries like China, Russia, and the US have seen a sharp decline in their popularity. This pandemic will change the list of favourite countries for medical students. We can expect countries like Georgia and Armenia to emerge as a new medical education hub, due to good infrastructure and global standards of medical education. From the favourable climate, amiable locals, safety, quality education, affordable fee, low living cost, and so on, these countries are qualifying all the criteria to be the preferred destination to study medicine.
What is your advice to the Indian medical aspirants who prefer to study abroad?
I would advise all the medical aspirants who wish to study abroad, do not panic due to corona; it is a worldwide situation. Things will get better soon, and Internationally, everything will be in order. For now, we don’t need to take too much stress about the admission cycle. We have all the time to make our careers, soon admissions will be open, and everything will be fine. We all should take care of our health on priority, and gradually everything will be in place.
More About Geeta Jain
Geeta Jain has travelled more than 20 countries on behalf of medical aspirants to visit various foreign medical universities and to know their culture, safety standards, climatic conditions, food style and everything which can affect a student. Geeta Jain is also the founder of Brainmotors, which she started to serve society and spread awareness about Mental health care in India. She has received Shiksha Bharti award for the contribution in making medical education affordable for Indian students and Atal Ratna Samman for educational excellence.