Nizhny Novgorod is the administrative point of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (Oblast means province). The city is situated at the meeting point of Oka river and Volga river which in central Russia. It has over 12 lakh citizens which makes it the 6th largest city of Russia. Nizhny Novgorod holds significance in terms of an economic, transportation, scientific, cultural and educational center. Moreover, it is the prime location for river tourism in Russia. Speaking of rivers, the waterways are one of the popular modes of transports in Nizhny Novgorod. In summers, ferries move from Nizhny Novgorod to other cities of Russia such as Moscow, Saint Petersburg, etc. Other modes of transport include railway, highways, and inter-city bus facilities. The Nizhny Novgorod airport goes by the official name of Stringino International Airport and it has direct flights to major other cities of Russia.

Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy is one of the medical universities in the Russian Federation and it is located in the city of Nizhny Novgorod. The institution has been renamed to Privolzhsky Research Medical University recently in 2018. The founding year of this institution is 1920. Thus, with over 100 years of academic experience in its vault, this could be just the right pick for you to study MBBS in Russia. However, the Indian Embassy in Russia thinks otherwise since the university has been ranked poorly in the rating list of Russian medical institutions by Indian embassy.

Speaking of the language of instructions, the course of medicine is taught in a bilingual fashion i.e. the students will be taught partly in English and partly in Russian. In this case, the students must study Russian language beforehand to be comfortable studying in a bilingual program. However, specoverseas recommends students to prefer only English taught program which are easily available in other Russian medical universities.

The bilingual mode of program serves as one of the reasons the Nizhny Novgorod Medical Academy is ruled out by many Indian students while choosing university to study MBBS in Russia. This avoidance can also be attributed to the low passing MCI ratio of the institution. Of the few Indian students who have graduated out of this university, a very low percentage has been able to make it in the former Indian licensing test i.e. the MCI screening test. This raises questions for whether the University is suitable for Indian students or not.

Studying at Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy – Good or bad?

The Nizhny Novgorod is one of the oldest universities of Russia with academic experience marking a century! Despite this, there are certain issues faced by students – especially Indians – which make it less desired among Indian students. Some of the issues are highlighted below –
•    As previously mentioned, the University offers a bilingual program for the course of medicine. specoverseas recommends students to seek admission only in Universities that offer purely English taught programs. Even though it is important to learn Russian language but the purpose of learning should be to easily converse with patients during clinical postings, lead a comfortable lifestyle while studying MBBS in Russia, etc. and not to proceed to study in that language.
•    Those Indian students who have studied at Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy have not been able to perform well at the former MCI Screening Test (National Exit Test at present). This indicates that the University may not be suitable specifically for the Indian students.
•    Speaking of Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy ranking, it is ranked 306 among the total 375 Russian higher education institutions. Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy world ranking 6551 out of 40,000 higher education institution which does not leave a good impression. If we speak about the ratings by Indian Embassy, it is ranked 24 out of 28 medical institutions in Russia falling under ministry of healthcare.
•    Even though the Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy fees are way lesser than that of private medical colleges in India, it is relatively higher than its Russian counterparts that are even older than Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy and offer purely English taught programs. For instance, the Crimea Federal University, a well revered university in Russia, was established in 1918 and offer purely English taught MBBS program at a cost much lower than Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy MBBS fees.

Cost of studying MBBS at Kabardino-Balkarian State University

Please find the Nizhny Novgorod State Medical University fee structure in the table below –