Guntur: Doctors from AP are flocking Caribbean islands where they can earn up to $4,000 a month with an MBBS degree. Many doctors from Guntur, Vijaya-wada, Kurnool and Tirupati are now working in Jamaica, British Guiana, Trinidad & Tobago.
Dr Ravi Kishore Reddy of Guntur, who worked in a Caribbean nation, says, “Doctors are paid well. In T&T, out of 250 doctors, 200 are from AP.”
The local governments sign up doctors on five-year contracts. “After five years, we get permanent registration and after eight years, citizenship,” said Dr V. Siva Kota Reddy, an assistant professor in a medical college in Dominica.
However, things are changing. “Local governments are sponsoring students to study in Cuban medical schools. They are accommodating locals first, followed by Indians. The craze among local doctors to go to the US is slowly coming down,” he said.
Many AP students are joining MD course equivalent to MBBS in islands like Curacao. Dr Reddy cautioned that Indians may not be given visas after studying the two-year pre-clinicals.
Several AP students are joining MD course equivalent to MBBS in islands like Curacao. These are offshore colleges where first two years of pre-clinical is done in Caribbean islands and clinicals in the US and Canada.
Experts cautioned that after completion of pre-clinicals, it is difficult for non-US students to get visa for pursuing clinicals and joining the medical courses is risky.
Dr Kota Reddy said, “The course is semester based. Most of the colleges have offshore tie-ups with the hospitals in US and Canada. For North American students, there is no issue. But those hailing from countries like India may find that they are not given visas after studying the two-year pre-clinicals. So, serious risk is involved.”
