Travail and trauma as medicos return : Rashtra News
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That was a surprise. The 23-year-old had just escaped from Ukraine, where he studies at the Ivano Frankivsk National Medical University.
“I felt weak for a few days after I reached home. Now, we are told that online classes may resume from 12 March,” Chowdhury says. “The university is strict and demands 100% attendance but, in this case, we do not even know if our teachers are around. Have they escaped to other countries? Where will they teach us from? How many are even alive?”
As Russia rained missiles on Ukrainian cities, Chowdhury, a fourth-year medical student, headed to Romania. He stayed in the Romanian shelter for migrants from Ukraine for a few days before being evacuated—a special flight flew him to New Delhi from where he made his way to Hanshkhali, his home town in West Bengal.
“The universities are trying to assure us that Ukraine will return to normalcy soon, but we cannot go back right now,” Chowdhury says. “My mother is very emotional, and my father asks me every morning if there’s any update on what the Indian government plans to do with all of us who left Ukraine. What will happen to our studies?”
India has evacuated about 18,000 since Russia started the war with Ukraine on 24 February. There were about 20,000 Indian students in Ukraine, most of them pursuing a degree in medicine.
Medical students mostly head towards Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Poland because the courses are cheaper. A six-year medical course in Ukraine can cost between ₹15 lakh and ₹20 lakh. In comparison, a private college in India charges between ₹80 lakh and ₹1 crore for a five-years programme in medicine.
Many students have funded their education abroad by taking loans. They now get jitters thinking what banks would do since there are collaterals attached to the loans. Some parents, like those of Chowdhury, used retirement funds to sponsor their child’s education.
Ukrainian universities, meanwhile, want students who haven’t paid their course fees to pay up. One university sent a text: “The university plans to resume online tuition from Monday, 14 March. In this regard, please remind students about tuition fees. Debtors will be denied access to the Teams (Microsoft’s communication platform). The university’s accounting department reports that all banks operate and accept payments…”
While parents are now relieved their children are safe and at home, there is a gnawing concern about their future even with the promise of online education. Surely, doctors can’t just do with online tuitions.
The anxiety and stress are palpable when you speak to both students and their parents. Every day, Chowdhury and other students scan multiple WhatsApp and Messenger groups they are part of hoping for nuggets of information around their degrees.
Stay in India
I want to stay in India. If my credits can get transferred to a medical college in India, then I will not leave,” declares Sarthak Singh, a third-year student from Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University. “But if that does not happen, I may look at Hungary as an option.”
A course is typically measured in the number of credit hours needed to complete it. Ukraine uses the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)—one academic year equals 60 ECTS credits. The system helps students in Europe move between countries where their academic qualifications are recognized.
Singh wants to stay back in India for a reason. He has had an arduous and long journey back home. He would need time to heal from this sort of a shock.
Singh and his friends travelled 40 kms in a cab from Lviv and then walked another 30 km to reach the Polish borders at 2.30 am on 27 February. He couldn’t cross over to Poland—the Border forces at Poland initially said Indian students would be allowed in. “But we realized there was segregation happening, and most Asians and African nationals were not allowed to cross,” Singh says.
Next, he headed for Budapest (Hungary), taking a cab and then two trains. Luck favoured him this time. He managed to cross into Hungary from where he was brought to New Delhi.
The day he returned to his home in Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh), his father, a doctor, was in his clinic. His mother was at home and asleep. “When she woke up and saw me standing, she kept touching me to check if it was real or whether she was dreaming,” says 23-year-old Singh, who wants to be a radiologist.
On 8 March, Singh along with his brother decided to throw a surprise for their mother to celebrate Women’s Day. “I cooked for her—vegetables, daal—simple fare that she enjoys. We bought ice cream because she loves it.” Cooking that meal was catharsis of sorts for Singh. “I used to cook in my hostel. We used to make potatoes in different styles,” he says over a phone call.
Singh expects his college to start online classes soon. They were given a two-week leave when war broke out.
The parents’ group
Anuj Goel, who owns a sanitary shop in Budhana, a town in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district, never wanted his son to go abroad. Harsh Goel, 20 years old, didn’t listen to his dad.
“There are 10-15 students from Muzafarranagar and nearby areas who were stuck in Ukraine. Their parents formed a WhatsApp group to give each other hope. I will not send him (Harsh) back again,” Anuj Goel says, rather determined.
Harsh’s twin brother works for a Pune-based tech company; his elder sister also works with an IT firm.
“Every day, we followed news for hours together. We were so tense. Only when he crossed the borders was there some sense of relief. We hope all the other children return home safe,” says the father.
Goel has spent ₹18-20 lakh so far on his son’s education. “He wants to become a cardiologist..we had high hopes. Let’s see what happens next,” he says.
Regrets and a reality check
A coterie of agents connect Indian students with many colleges in Ukraine. They hard-sell these universities to families, help in filling in the admission forms, arrange flights, and even run hostel messes for students in Ukraine. They do charge a hefty commission for their services—as high as ₹8-10 lakh.
Many students Mint spoke to said all these agents disappeared when they needed them the most. Students ran helter skelter to plot their own escape routes with bombs falling all around them.
The hasty exit from Ukraine was especially tough for first year and second year students who had barely attended offline classes since universities were shut for many months because of the pandemic. With online classes in the offing again, it is back to square one.
“I regret not going to Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan for studies. Courses in these countries are cheaper than India. Now, I hear that they are better than Ukraine (the courses),” Yash Deepak Shrivastav says. He is a first-year student at the Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University and had joined in November 2021.
Many students end up in Ukraine because agents package an ‘European education’ above those offered by central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. At times, students do aspire to experience Europe because of the quality of life it promises. The Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University’s website states: “With rich farmlands, a well-developed industrial base, highly trained labour, and a good education system, Ukraine has the potential to become a major European economy. Personal incomes are rising. The macro economy is stable, while economic growth continues”.
The war has tested some of these assumptions.
Shrivastav’s college is close to Poland’s borders and he was one of the very few to manage a flight booking on 21 February—days before Russia attacked Ukraine. Now, his parents want him to complete the first year at the university before exploring if the credits could be transferred to other universities in Europe. Even when Shrivastav is able to go back to Ukraine and attend physical classes, the parents are worried he may face racism.
Indian students had taken to social media describing the increasingly antagonistic and racist behaviour meted out to them at the borders. Videos were circulated of violence at the border checkpoints.
Indian students are requesting the Ukrainian universities to send photos of their documents that were submitted during the admission process. These documents would be required for possible transfer of credits to other universities in Europe. The students also want proof of their mark sheets submitted there.
“Our documents are in the bunker and the college said it will send us photos,” says Shrivastav. Students were asked to take shelter in bunkers, often created in the basement of their hostels, when bombs fell.
Meanwhile, many students are petitioning different state governments in India and the courts to grant them some relief. Like in the form of credit transfers or a seat in a medical college in India.
‘The steam will blow soon’
Ukraine can get very cold. Just how cold? Recently, one defence expert said that soldiers in the 40-mile-long convoy of Russian tanks headed towards Kyiv can freeze to death. Eastern Europe is expected to experience a cold snap this week, during which temperatures can drop to minus 20 degrees Celsius.
Harsh Goel, during his escape journey, called up home to describe this climate. Cold gusts of wind and snowfall was often the real enemy, he says.
“I spent three days at the Romanian border with an NGO providing us with food. It was not enough. All were doing their best but we stood for 30 hours before managing to cross the border,” he recollects.
No doubt, psychologists are expecting a spike in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) once the students settle back into their routine in India.
“The war came after two years of the covid-19 pandemic and anything unpredictable leads to stress. Besides, normal body clock went for a toss—the students have gone without food, clean water for hours at end. They have been cooped up inside their bunkers for days,” says Jini K. Gopinath, chief psychology officer at YourDOST, an emotional well-being platform. “It is like a pressure cooker on the flame and the steam will blow soon,” he adds.
The psychologist expects the first signs of this stress to reflect in the form of psychosomatic disorders such as neck pain, headaches, back pain and extreme fatigue. The signs of PTSD will come later, in the form of anxiety, anger and fear.
Sarthak Singh already has nightmares—of him back at the Polish border. “When I am on the terrace (of his home), I end up crying. I have nightmares. My parents are encouraging me to talk and, if need be, I will seek help soon,” he told Mint.
Living the European dream or even completing their education would now depend on multiple factors. It would depend on what the Indian government decides, what universities in Ukraine want, and even the benevolence of neighbouring European countries. That’s a long and winding road.
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( News Source :Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Rashtra News staff and is published from a www.livemint.com feed.)
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