No more London trips: India emerges Asian hub for UK's exam

With this development, Indian doctors will no longer have to go to the UK and can now obtain an international qualification in India itself.

They will be allowed to use the designation "MRCPCH (UK)" with their names in their practice once they clear the tests here, says a release here.

The written examination for the MRCPCH was first held in India in 2009 and since then the Kokilaben Ambani Hospital had been the centre for the written examination in Mumbai, but candidates had to go to the UK to take the clinical examination.

However, the Kokilaben Ambani Hospital will hold the clinical examination for MRCPCH for the first time in Mumbai on June 16 and 17, the release said.

A team of senior Consultants from the National Health Service (NHS) in UK led by Dr Ramesh Mehta, the Principal Regional Examiner of South Asia for the Royal College together with the Education and Assessment Lead, Graeme Muir, will oversee the examination in partnership with a team of senior Consultants from all over India.

Dr Santanu Sen, Paediatrician at Ambani hospital and Host Examiner for MRCPCH, said MRCPCH is a tough examination where even the examiners have to get trained and be evaluated themselves before they are allowed to examine candidates. The examiners are trained over a period of time and then they have to fly to UK for their final evaluation.

Dr Sen said even though 48 young paediatricians would be taking exams in Mumbai over two days, there is a large waiting list of candidates, who could not be accommodated.

"We have candidates not only from all over India, but also from Singapore, Australia, Muscat, Brunei, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, who are coming to take the examination," he said.