As they were returning to their home state of Kerala from war-torn Ukraine last year, medical students Prajith L and Gopikrishnan G had feared they were leaving behind their ambitions to become doctors. They were students of the 2021 batch at the Kharkiv National Medical University in eastern Ukraine, and in the wake of Russia’s sudden and large-scale invasion of the country on February 24, 2022, were left with little option but to travel back to the safety of their homes. Over the next year, however, they worked hard to get back on track and once again pursue their dream, this time back in India. The duo, both natives of Kanhangad in Kasaragod district, have now achieved high enough ranks in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) to secure them seats in government medical colleges in the country.
Prajith (21) secured an all India rank of 9,154, while his countrywide rank in the OBC (Other Backward Community) category is 3,471. Gopikrishnan (20), meanwhile, has secured a rank of 9,119 in the same category. Over 20 lakh applicants appeared for NEET this year, and the exam’s results were announced by the National Testing Agency on June 13.
Both Prajith and Gopikrishnan had qualified NEET in 2021 as well, but with lower ranks. Speaking to TNM, Prajith said it is a common misconception that students who go abroad to study medicine are those who do not qualify NEET. “That is not true. They do qualify NEET, but some are unable to get admission in the merit quota (to study in India). As the fees at India’s private medical colleges are exorbitant, they opt to go abroad,” he said.
Both Prajith and Gopikrishnan had continued online classes at the Kharkiv University for a few months, even after they returned home. “But at some point we realised [that the war was not going to end any time soon]. The University had asked us to pay fees for the second year. But I was considering discontinuing my studies in Ukraine, and started to prepare for NEET,” Prajith said. While he liked Ukraine, it is always better to study at home if he could get into a college on merit, he added.
Gopikrishnan is also happier, now that he can study in India. “My NEET rank last time was not high enough for me to get a seat in a government college in the country. I too chose to go to Ukraine because studying at private or deemed universities here is more expensive than in a foreign country like Ukraine,” he said, adding that he was waiting for allotment details to be published to know which college he will get admission to.