Wuhan for long a popular destination for medical aspirants

Wuhan may have become a household name after the outbreak of the deadly novel coronavirus but the historic Chinese city has been a much sought after education hub for Kerala medical aspirants for long with affordable and quality courses being the prime attraction.

While there is no official data on the number of Kerala students studying in the Asian nation, unoffcial estimates put it around 500.

Interestingly, an official said only after the virus scare the government learnt about a sizable number of students studying in Chinese universities.

India's all three positive coronavirus cases so far are Keralite students, two of them medicos, of a university in Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus which has claimed 490 lives in China so far.

Impressed by factors like affordability, amenities and international standards in medical education, offered in English, students from Kerala have been flocking to the Wuhan University School of Medicine.

Wuhan, over 1,000 km from Chinese capital of Beijing and more than 800 km from the top class metropolis Shanghai, is a historic city and played a key role in the 20th century history of China.

"I am very happy about the medical education system at Wuhan university. They offer quality education at affordable fees," a student who had returned from Wuhan last month, said here.

Aiswarya Hariharan, a third year MBBS student, returned to India early January soon after the school was shut for vacation.

According to her, the Wuhan University School of Medicine has become a centre of attraction for MBBS aspirants from Kerala because of its international standard.

Overseas students prefer the university as the six-year- long course is offered in English for them.

"In our batch, there are about 70 international students. Interestingly, 50 of them are from Kerala," said Aiswarya from Tripunithura near here.

Parent of another MBBS student studying in Wuhan said he sent his daughter there because of its high standard of education in a fees affordable for him.

"I spent Rs 5 to 6 lakhs for fee, accommodation and food annually for my daughter. This fee amount is very less when compared with many of the self-financing medical institutes with least facilities in India."