The final-year students, who would have completed their semester in April this year, said they were ready to sit the exams and complete the compulsory internship in India. Freshmen said the uncertainty made this time stressful for them.

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Pune-based Hemant Nigade is relieved that his daughter Neha, a first-year MBBS student at Ukraine’s Ternopil University, has returned safely. “I shudder to think of what could have happened. I’m in no rush to send it back. We can only appeal to the authorities so that our children can pursue their dream of becoming doctors,” Nigade said.

Several fourth- and fifth-year students are hoping for an update by March 13. Nagpur-based Ravina Tahkit, a fourth-year student at MI Pirogov National Medical University in Vinnitsya, Ukraine, said: 13, after which there will be instructions on resuming online classes. I hope to return once the war is over. The entire course is 5.8 years. We will wait here until June and then we will decide.

Anil Rathore, a fourth-year student at Bogomolets National Medical University in Kyiv from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh, said: “There is a lot of uncertainty, but we are hoping for updates from our universities in here on March 13. The first choice is to stay in India and follow the guidelines as they come out.

Some students also said they were considering transferring to universities in Poland and Armenia.

Suresh Chaudhari, a fifth-year student at Ivano-frankivsk National Medical University, Ukraine, is from Kalyan. “I would have finished my last semester in April and I am ready to take the exam. It was my last year so it makes sense for me to stay in India and do an internship here,” he said.

Several students pointed out that the fee for the entire 5.8-year course is between Rs 20-25 lakh, while in India they would have to shell out around Rs 10 lakh per year. The fee structure varies among different private medical colleges in the states.