Medium of Teaching

Is it often noted that many students face a Language problem in some medical universities in Russia because some MBBS abroad Consultants send them to a Bilingual University after promising them the medium of teaching to be English.

So what is a Bilingual University and what is the medium of teaching in different Russian Medical Universities for an MBBS course? This is what we will discuss in the article along with some examples.

There are 3 types of Medical Universities in Russia based on the medium of teaching-

UNIVERSITIES THAT TEACH IN THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

Students studying MBBS in such universities are taught in the Russian Language for the complete course. However, International Students can`t get direct admission in MBBS course taught in Russian Medium.

First of all, international students have to do a 9 months language/preparatory course in any of a Russian Medical University and get a Russian language diploma in the medical field. After that, you are eligible to apply for the entrance exam in any of the university which provides medical courses.

The entrance exam is conducted in the Russian language. You can also get a scholarship if you perform well in the entrance exam of the university.

UNIVERSITIES THAT TEACH IN BILINGUAL METHOD

As the word˜Bilingual Suggests- study in two different languages. Students in these universities are taught in the English language for the first 3 years and the remaining 3 years are in the Russian language.

This means that all the lectures, practical classes, and Exams are conducted in the English language for 1st to 3rd year and in Russian Langauge from 4th-6th year.

However, the Russian language is taught to students by the university itself in the initial years with no extra charges.

Problem with the Bilingual Method of teaching

You may think that what is the problem with the Bilingual method of teaching and you may easily learn the Russian language by the 4th year? Well, it`s true. You will learn the Russian language by 4th year as the Russian language classes are held frequently and you will be living in the type of environment where the Russian language is needed on a daily basis like for Shopping, Travelling, etc. But being fluent in the Russian language takes time and some effort especially in the medical terminologies. It only comes with consistency. Also speaking a language and writing an exam in that language are two different things. For example- Let`s say your native language is Hindi but you have been studying in the English language in your School. What if I ask you to write the Biology exam in the Hindi Language. Would you be able to do it? Most probably, your answer would be NO. Even though you know the Hindi language very well, writing a medical exam in that language is a hard task as the medical terminologies can be very difficult oftentimes. Similarly, you will learn the Russian language, the basic language Russian language is easy, but, writing medical exams in the Russian Language is quite difficult and students in Bilingual universities face problems because of this. International Students studying in the Russian medium from the start don`t face any problem with medical terminologies in the Russian language as they have already gone through a 9 months extensive Russian language course in the medical field.

How Consultant send students to Bilingual Universities

The most common way an MBBS abroad consultant tricks students to take admission in Bilingual University is by saying that only the clinical subjects will be in the Russian language. However, they don`t tell you that the majority of subjects from the 4th year are clinical subjects only.

They say that you will easily learn the Russian language by your 4th year and will be able to manage. But like explained above, the majority of students are not able to manage to write the exams in the Russian language and then face problems after the Russian Medium actually starts.

UNIVERSITIES THAT TEACH IN ENGLISH MEDIUM

MBBS course in such universities is available in English medium for the complete 6 years, which means that all the lectures, Classes and Exams are conducted in English Language for the complete course. So you don`t have to worry about giving exams in the Russian language like in universites with Bilingual method of Teaching. You would only need Russian Langauge to interact with the local patients during your clinical rotations. Russian Language classes are held in universities with English-taught program as well so that you won`t face any language barrier while interacting with the patients. Of course, it depends on you how much attention you pay in the Russian Language classes. Some Russian Medical Universities started providing General Medicine (MBBS) Course in English Medium in the late 1990s. However, many Russian Medical universities have recently started English Medium Course , especially for Foreign Students looking at the growing number of international students coming to Russian for an MBBS. Language course or preparatory course is not mandatory for admission in Bilingual universities or Full-English universities. However, students have to give an entrance exam which is conducted in English language. The entrance consists of basic questions from Biology, Chemistry, and English and is just a pass/fail exam. There is no scholarship available if you give the entrance exam of a Russian medical university in the English Language. Russiafeels always recommends that you take admission in a university which provides an MBBS course in English medium for complete 6 years so that you don`t face any language during the MBBS course.