For thousands of Indian families living in the Gulf, especially in the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, choosing where their children study after Class 12 is a deeply personal decision. It’s not just about which university has the best infrastructure or where the tuition fees are lower. It’s about something much bigger, something emotional:
“Where will my child feel at home while studying medicine?”
| I have been living in Sharjah, UAE for 23 years. Here life is comfortable, incomes are stable, infrastructure is world-class, and opportunities are good. But even after years of being settled here, there’s always this quiet truth: Our heart still belongs to India. – Md. Ayaz Ansari, Rice trader from Chandauli (known as the “rice bowl” of Uttar Pradesh) |
Over the last few years, something very noticeable has been happening. More and more Indian families living in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Muscat, Kuwait City and Riyadh are choosing to send their children back to India for medical education. It’s not just a small change, it’s a real trend picking up speed.
And this trend is becoming stronger each year due to:
- Increasing NRI quota seats in Indian medical colleges
- Reduced NEET score barriers for NRI category admissions
- Parents’ desire to keep their children emotionally and culturally rooted in India
But beyond policies and numbers, there’s a very human story here. A story of identity, belonging, culture, family, and future.
Join NEET News 2025 Let’s talk about that story.
“We Don’t Want Our Children to Lose Their Roots”
This is something you will hear often if you talk to NRI parents in the Gulf.
They went abroad to earn a better income, to build stability, to provide opportunities. But they never went with the intention of disconnecting from India. India is not just a country for them. It’s a feeling.
It’s the place of grandparents. It’s where festivals are celebrated the way they should be. It’s where the language flows naturally, not in translation. It’s where food tastes like memory and not just meal.
So when their child reaches the age of deciding where to study MBBS, a very emotional question arises:
- “Will my child stay connected to who they are if they study abroad?”
- “Will my child still feel like they belong to India?”
- “Will they continue to speak their mother tongue comfortably?”
- “Will they remember family values, festivals, rituals, and community ties?”
Sending a child to India for MBBS becomes a way to ensure they remain connected. That connection is not just cultural, it affects mental and emotional well-being.
Because medical education is not easy. Students need a familiar environment to stay emotionally strong.
Sending their child back to India becomes a way of keeping identity alive.
Food, Atmosphere and Lifestyle Matter More Than People Think
Anyone can talk about college rankings and hospital facilities, but daily life decides whether a student thrives or breaks under pressure.
In India, even hostel mess food tastes like something close to home. Students find familiar snacks, familiar spices, familiar smells, things that quietly keep the heart steady when studies become difficult.
There’s also the comfort of hearing your mother tongue around you. It makes life feel effortless. You don’t have to adjust your accent or choose your words. You can simply be yourself.
Students studying MBBS abroad, whether in Europe, Central Asia, or even Gulf/Middle-east, don’t always get this comfort. Food is unfamiliar. Language is unfamiliar.
Sometimes even the climate is unfriendly. And medical education is already intense enough without adding cultural disconnection into the mix.
When a parent says, “We want our children to feel comfortable while studying,” they are talking about emotional stability, not convenience.
In India, Support Is Never Far Away
Medical education is not easy. There are long study hours, sleepless nights, hospital postings, exams every few months, and days where students doubt themselves.
Having family nearby, even if you don’t meet them, gives a kind of psychological strength that can’t be explained in marksheets and rankings.
In India, a student knows that if they fall sick, feel lonely, or simply feel overwhelmed, there are: Relatives a phone call away or Cousins waiting weekend plans or A family friend who can show up and say, “Beta, we’re here”.
In a foreign country, this cushion disappears. Even the smallest problem becomes heavy.
Parents in the Gulf know this. They have lived away from home. They know what loneliness feels like in another land. And they don’t want their children to learn that lesson during one of the hardest academic journeys of their life.
Read Also: Why NRIs Are Returning to India for MBBS: How NRI Quotas Are Benefiting Students and Colleges?
The Academic Advantage: Clinical Exposure in India Is Unmatched
Now let’s talk academics for a moment, because this part truly matters.
Indian hospitals are full of real patients, real cases, and real clinical situations. Students learn by seeing and doing. They gain confidence early because they are around:
- Different diseases
- Different age groups
- Patients from different backgrounds
- Real emergency situations
This practical exposure is something many foreign medical colleges simply cannot match due to language barriers, lesser patient flow, or strict hospital structures.
In medicine, textbook knowledge alone is never enough. A doctor grows by touching, observing, listening, interacting and deciding. And that is exactly where Indian MBBS training has always been strong.
Parents understand this clearly. They know that despite challenges, India produces doctors who are confident in real hospital environments.
The New NRI Quota and Reduced NEET Barriers Changed Everything
Earlier, getting an MBBS seat in India as an NRI required very high NEET marks. Many students who grew up in Gulf CBSE or IB systems found the exam alignment difficult.
But due to recent National Medical Commission (NMC) changes:
- Many private medical colleges in states like Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra have increased NRI quota seats.
- NEET score requirements for NRI admissions are more flexible.
- Counselling processes are clearer and more accessible.
And they are willing to pay NRI quota fees willingly because they believe: “Quality of education in India is one of the strongest in the world when it comes to real medical training.”
For the first time in many years, NRI students have a real chance to study MBBS in India without impossible competition.
This change is one of the biggest reasons why the trend has accelerated.
In India, Students Don’t Study Alone, They Study Together
There is something unique about MBBS life in India.
The struggle is intense, but it is shared.
Students face exams, rotations, and pressure together. They laugh together, cry together, and survive together. They make friendships that feel like family.
This shared journey makes the pressure easier to handle.
In foreign universities, students often feel emotionally isolated. They might be surrounded by classmates but still feel alone because the cultural bond is missing.
In India, even stress feels like a part of life, not something that breaks you.
Lower Academic Pressure Compared to Western Systems
Medical programs in the UAE and many Western-aligned systems follow:
- Continuous assessment models
- Heavy project-based evaluation
- Strict academic pacing
This works beautifully for some students. But for many teenagers transitioning from school, this can become overwhelming.
In India, the learning pace is also intense, yes, but shared. Students feel like they’re going through it together and peer support reduces emotional stress.
And that matters.
For NRIs of Gulf, It’s a Homecoming.
When Gulf NRI parents choose India for MBBS, they are not simply selecting a college.
They are choosing:
- Familiarity over foreignness
- Cultural warmth over adjustment
- Belonging over individuality
- Identity over uncertainty
- Roots over distance
And their voices echo same: “Our children should remember where they come from.”
And that is the real heart of this trend.
