I received the following link from a commentor in my blog : http://chronicle.com/article/Corruption-in-Russian-Medical/128200/. I have attached the article for easy reading, below. Even, before this article was published in July 2011, I have already heard about this corruption issues. Generally, most incompetent doctors are somehow graduates from Russian medical schools or Indonesia. Probably Egypt may join the team soon as we are beginning to see their graduates. Of course it is a generalisation as I have seen good students from Russia and Indonesia as well( a minority, I must say). What the article has a said below is indeed true.
I had spoken to some students from Russia who do not even know how to take a history and examine a patient. In fact, some do not even know many of the medical terms. What he told me was very shocking indeed. It seems most of the international students are placed in the international wing ( I do not want to mention which uni is this). The lecturers hardly come to teach and the students are just left alone to learn by themselves. After 5 years, they are all passed to go back to their respective countries! It is a way for the college to make money and they are not bothered about the quality, same as to what is happening in Malaysia currently. Some will pay to pass their exams! In fact, most of these medical colleges do not even bother what is your entry qualifications. They just take whoever , based on whether you can pay or not! Money talks!
Well, having said that, will Malaysian medical schools end up the same as Russian medical schools? Most likely. We can already see it happening. Almost all medical schools in Malaysia seem to be having a 100% passing rate, especially the private medical colleges. It is an indirect form of corruption. What you need is just money and some basic entry qualifications to get a medical degree. I am still hearing of students with poor SPM/A level results being guaranteed a medical seat by our private medical colleges, despite MMC coming up with a guideline of entry qualifications!! Can MMC really monitor all these hanky panky things that are going around? I doubt so.
Medical education should never be commercialised. That’s the reason in many developed countries, all medical colleges are government-funded with strict entry qualifications.
Now, anyone can become a doctor…………………. as long as you have the money………………….
Corruption in Russian Medical Schools Triggers Uproar
By Anna Nemtsova
Moscow
An exposé in the Russian edition of Esquire has roiled education and health officials here by detailing the corruption at six medical schools. The magazine in April published nine short articles by medical students describing the various ways they can pay professors in exchange for passing tests.
It is not exactly breaking news that bribery exists at Russian universities. According to a May poll of 17,500 people by the Public Opinion Foundation, an independent group in Russia, respondents identified higher education as the most corrupt sector of public life, with traffic cops coming in second. But the news that future doctors, dentists, and surgeons often buy grades instead of actually learning the material triggered an immediate uproar.
Perhaps no institution has been embarrassed more than the I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, one of Russia’s best-known medical schools. In Esquire and in discussions with The Chronicle, students described an environment where bribery runs rampant. It is so common at the university, known as First Medical, that students aren’t surprised to see a peer casually hand a professor of histology a thick wad of 1,000-ruble bills.
Vladimir, a third-year student who asked that only his first name be used, given the sensitive nature of the topic, told The Chronicle that before exams, his mother helps him pay $200 to $450 in under-the-table payments to faculty members. In exchange, professors help students “survive the brain-crashing number of tests and exams,” he said.
After the Esquire article appeared, First Medical received a letter from the Ministry of Health that ordered university administrators to meet with the ministry. “Our rector and the rector of three other Moscow medical universities were invited to the Ministry of Health last week to discuss ways of fighting corruption,” First Medical’s deputy rector, Igor N. Denisov, said. He did not specify any concrete proposals put forward at the meeting to curb bribery.
One thing the medical schools did not do is deny the corruption. Mr. Denisov said he and the university’s rector, Petr V. Globychko, have been actively trying to fight the tradition of paying bribes. They have asked students to inform the administration when it happens. During the last two years, two professors resigned after being confronted with accusations of taking bribes, Mr. Denisov said. “We let professors with a reputation for taking bribes know that they are not welcomed at our campus, so they prefer to quit voluntarily,” he said.
‘An Epidemic of Ignorance’
But relying on students to come forward may be a faulty strategy.
During his first year of studies, anatomy seemed absolutely incomprehensible, Vladimir said. His fellow student, Anna, said pharmacology “is threatening to drive me crazy.” For both, the problem of passing difficult courses was easy to solve: The medical students paid $400 for a good grade or $500 for an excellent grade at the anatomy department. Last year some professors in the department switched from U.S. dollar to Euro rates, the students said. “Corruption is like an epidemic of ignorance,” Anna said. “As a result of it, our poor skills will be dangerous for our future patients’ health, of course.”
The degree to which the students openly discuss giving bribes—and their willingness to acknowledge their lack of learning—does concern the university’s administrators. “If I were there to witness a professor taking cash from a student, I would have fallen though the ground from shame,” Mr. Denisov said in an interview at his office.
Mr. Denisov said the core issue was low salaries for professors: 50,000 rubbles ($1,800) is an average monthly salary for a professor at First Medical, which enrolls 13,000 to 14,000 students a year. “That is not enough for those supporting their families,” Mr. Denisov said. He also blames parents for spoiling their children “by stuffing their pockets with cash for bribes,” and schools for poorly educating students, who he compared to Raskolnikov, the Dostoevsky character ready to commit a crime without expecting to be punished.
Most mornings, Mr. Denisov arrives by his modest Suzuki at the university parking lot where students park their Infinity or Bentley luxury cars; some even have drivers waiting in the car until the end of lectures. “I do not understand what else but empty thirst for prestige inspires parents to pay so much money for their students to go to First Medical,” the deputy rector said. “A surgery room is not going to be fun if they fear making a mistake, blood, pain, or emotional stress.”
Corrupt Students Become Corrupt Doctors
Not every student can learn all required information, the deputy rector said with a sigh. First Medical has tried to screen applicants for those who may be unable to handle the difficult course load, but some students say they paid bribes to get into the school.
For those with poor learning skills, the university invented a system of extra private classes. To get a credit, a student has to take about 10 private lessons in a subject and pay the professor for those sessions. Instead of curbing bribes, the system quickly led to corrupt practices. To pass the anatomy exam last year, Misha, another student who prefers anonymity, and eight of his second-year classmates had to take extra classes from their professor. Officially, classes cost about 1,000 rubles, but the professor charged students 2,500 rubles, or $89 per class. “She did not give us any knowledge, just asked us questions for about half an hour, then opened the pocket on her white medical gown, so we could slip in our 50-euro or 1,000-ruble bills,” Misha said. He said he was disappointed that the university management did not fire the professor after Misha and his friends reported her to the university management.
Mr. Denisov said that it is the responsibility of the federal security service to prosecute corrupt professors. The service “has its office on our campus—it is their job to check the evidence of crime,” he said. The leader of the nongovernmental National Anti-Corruption Committee and a member of President Dmitry Medvedev’s Human Rights Council, Kirill Kabanov, said the seeds of cheating and abusing rules are planted in Russian students’ mind by the time they reach universities; as a result, “corruption in medical service is literally killing Russia.” Corrupt medical students grow into corrupt doctors. “The health and social-development ministry has been repeatedly involved in scandals where hundreds of millions of dollars disappear from government purchases each year,” Mr. Kabanov said.
Russia’s Ministry of Health says it does not have data on the extent to which corruption is hurting the nation’s health service, but it says it is trying to fix the problem. Sofiya Maliavina, an aide to the minister of health, said the government is pushing medical schools to provide more practical training to students. What’s more, in February the ministry invested 1 million rubbles ($35,624) to establish a telephone hot line to report corruption in the state medical system. The ministry reports receiving an average of 50 calls a day.
Pagalavan's Avatar 
I’m a student from Russia and yes I have to agree with the heavy corruption happening in the university ( even in the one I studied as well ) here. And not only the corruption is a problem, some students just don’t read their stuffs and could still end up passing the examinations . Could you imagine that? And that is why we have always been labelled as incompetent once we go back and serve in Malaysia. To make it worse, important subjects for example Obstetrics and Gynaecology are taught in Russian !! And generally we will be reprimanded if we ever answer them in English !!! On top of that, we have to study Russian texts which are like 100 years behind and if we as students tell the professors something new/ something they never heard of, either we’ll get scolded, neglected or worse we are asked to pass up an assignment. I really thought medical university is a place where we as medical students are treated as real medical students and not like kindergarden students. And really to make it worse ( already very worse ), we are not taught the correct way to take a thorough history, perform a thorough examination and many of the students can’t even diagnose a simple disease ( yes I have to admit I’m among them as well, shamefully ). I have always admired those who get taught like a real medical students, to prepare them to face the real world after they graduated and sadly i couldn’t see any of these things happening here. And even though some of us tried to compensate by being hardworking, well without guidance we are just going nowhere. And hats off to those Russian-grad doctors who really make it big out there. I’m sure they really work very very hard because I know 6 years in Russia are generally a waste of time ( well at least for me, sorry no offence for those who don’t agree with me ) as I don’t really learn things from here. Sorry I may sound a little bit naive thinking the grass is always greener on the other side of the world but this is the fact that we cannot ignore.
Yes, this is what I am trying to tell everyone.
Are you studying in a university recognized by MMC & JPA? You should highlight all this to the officials here.Unfortunately patients wouldn;t be aware of all this and they maybe victims of incompetency in diagnosis.Save this country’s healthcare system seriously.
Highlight what? Im a private student and it’s my choice to come to this country ( although regrettably ). Yes it is recognized by MMC and JPA up till now ( but i’m not sure about the future ). Bottom line is the one who should be blamed is the middle man ( or rather agent ) that tried to sell off the idea of coming to here to students. I have to admit my family got swayed by them without knowing anything of this beforehand. If I have known, I wouldn’t come here in a million years. Government really have to act by only recognizing good medical universities and not let the ‘recognized list’ overloaded by a bunch of medical universities who only care about their pockets. I have been very frustrated but I couldn’t do anything because bottom line is ” It’s your choice. Don’t spill the bottle of milk over it “. However, I really hope that incompetency isn’t one of my enemies when I finally graduate and practising in the future
Hi, doctor. My son is studying Medicine in one of Russian Universities, but he wants to transfer to Malaysian private University, which is not recognized by MMC. The reason why he wants to quit Russian Uni is that he could not take their teaching and learning system. The Russian Uni that he goes to is recognized by MMC. He said it is ok that the Malaysian Uni is not recognized by MMC, because he will take MQE. Also, he has not taken SPM BM, because he went to one of International school in Malaysia (International stream), because one of his parents is a foreigner. He said he doesn’t mind taking SPM BM in order to work in Malaysia. Now, there is ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) in Europe. They can transfer the credits among European WHO listed medical schools. So I am thinking its a good idea that my son transfers to one of European countries. Probably Czech Republic. There are 3 University which are recognized by MMC, and 2 are recognized by JPA. One is recognized even by California state of U.S.A. However, my son still wants to come back and transfer to Malaysian private University and later, he wants to go to UK for graduate school, come back and be a doctor in Sarawak. This is his planning now. I just wonder how much this works, because there are a lot of holes in this field of medicine. One wants to do something, then there is a hole to drop. (in a way that the Uni is not recognized, that one has to sit for many exams, etc. ) I am very worried about his future, because once we make a wrong step, he cannot come back… Would you like to give us any advice? Thank you…
I understand how you as a parent must be going through.
What do you mean by going “to UK for graduate school”?
Which year of medical school is he at now? Maybe a possibility would be to try and get into a MMC recognised private university in Malaysia.
Edit: “..:understand what…”
Hi I’m one of the students still studying in Moscow I understand what your son feels and I ( and many of my friends ) also felt the same thing however, do u think going to Czech Republic going to help? My mum has a friend’s daughter studying in Czech on JPA and she is too complaining about the system there..my point is grass is always greener on the other side…True that we need guidance in medicine but most of the time it is down to ourselves..I have many of my seniors who have studied in Russian faculty ( Can u imagine that? Whole course in Russian ) and still doing great in medical field..My whole point is just accept the fact that we chose the wrong country and uni to come to, work to your best to accept this and study hard ( instead of just complaining about the education system )
There is no private med school in Msia that is not recognised, or will not be eventually recognised. There is no question of needing to sit for the MQE.
Generally, there is no ‘credit transfer’ between medical schools in Msia, so instead of ‘transferring’, just reapply into one of the schools to start from the beginning. The ECTS system probably will not include Russia, as it is not part of the EU.
If he graduates from a Msian med school, he cannot work in UK without sitting and passing the PLAB exam. There is NO such things as ‘graduate school’ in UK. Post graduate specialist training is full time work, NOT academic studies. This issue was covered in one of the threads here recently.
Do note that there is revised MMC guidelines for minimum qualification required to undertake medical studies, otherwise he will never be able to get registered with MMC.
this is a common complaint from many students who go to Russia and that’s one of the reason why the products are bad.
What’s the point of changing to another european country with similar language issues?
As for Malaysia, MMC eventually will recognise all the medical schools.
What do you mean by “gracuate studies”. If your degree is NOT recognised elsewhere, you can’s go anywhere else unless you sit and pass the entrance exams. Mind you that these exams are not easy nor cheap with NO guarantee that you will a job.
It is better for him to come back to Malaysia and start from Year 1
I modified a bit.
Hi, doctor. My son is studying Medicine in one of Russian Universities, but he wants to transfer to one of Malaysian private Universities, which is not recognized by MMC. The reason why he wants to quit Russian Uni is that he could not take their teaching and learning system any more. The Russian Uni that he goes to is recognized by MMC. He said it is ok that the Malaysian Uni is not recognized by MMC, because he will take MQE. Also, he has not taken SPM BM, because he went to one of International school in Malaysia (International stream), because one of his parents is a foreigner. He said he doesn’t mind taking SPM BM in order to work in Malaysia. Now, there is ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) in Europe. They can transfer the credits among European WHO listed medical schools. So I am thinking its a good idea that my son transfers to one of European countries. Probably Czech Republic. There are 3 Czecg Universities which are recognized by MMC, and 2 are recognized by JPA. One is recognized even by California state of U.S.A. However, my son still wants to come back and transfer to Malaysian private University and later, he wants to go to University of Edinburgh for graduate school, come back and be a doctor in Sarawak. (or be a doctor first, graduate school in Edinburgh, and come back) This is his planning now. I just wonder how much this works, because there are a lot of holes in this field of medicine.
My son strongly believe that his planning works and it is the best. He says Malaysian private University is good. (probably compared to Russia) But as parents, we want to give him the best quality within our financial capability. His interest in medicine itself is very strong, so I think he can make it in Czech in which many students cannot pursue their studies due to many drop out rate.
In this case, which one do you think is better choice, Malaysian unrecognized private University or one of Czech University?
Thank you…
See my post above.
There is NO such thing as ‘University of Edinburgh for graduate school’.
The ECTS system does not include Russia, and at the moment, does not apply to undergraduate Medical studies.
If your son really feels its too difficult for him to stay here, maybe there are problems we don’t know, the best bet is to restart the whole course again from first year…Srry as far as I know no credit transfer between Moscow school and foreign school as our exam format is different ( I’m sure ur sn told u about marks in exam system – we don’t get CGPA, instead we get grade 1-5, and the worst part is it is written in Russian ) so nope either accept the fact and stay here ( and work hard yourself ) or go back and start again
I think your son got NO idea about post-graduate education in Medicine. Ask him to read this blog. There is NO such thing as “graduate school in Edinburgh”.
I would prefer Malaysian schools compared to Czech
sir ,is it Russian medical colleges are not good enough for indian students to study mbbs in russia
I won’t bother
I have an enquiry., regarding credit transfer between medical college in Malaysia. How can i proceed with this transfer ?
Firstly, the university you intend to transfer to must be fully accreditated by MMC. Then the university must be willing to offer you a seat and that must be approved by MMC.