Karnataka pitches for U.K.’s MRCP PG qualifier exams to be held in State

To help the medical graduates from India, aspiring to do their postgraduation in the United Kingdom, the Government of Karnataka has proposed to conduct the Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) exams in Karnataka every year. 

The MRCP exam is a PG qualification exam in internal medicine in the U.K., conducted in three parts by the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and is recognised globally. 

Karnataka’s Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil, currently on a visit to the U.K. organised by the British Council, held talks over the issue with the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) and even requested them to train Indian students back home for the exam. 

Considering the high number of medical graduates produced every year, Karnataka will be the best place to conduct MRCP exams in India, Dr. Patil argued. “There are plenty of job opportunities for medical and dental graduates in the U.K.. But as they have to travel all the way to London to take the MRCP exam, many graduates are not showing interest. If these exams are held in India, that will change,” the Minister opined. 

Eight MoUs 

Karnataka is all set to sign a total of eight Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with various U.K. universities like the University of Cambridge and University of Wolverhampton, in the fields of public health, clinical trials, joint research and academic collaborations that will extend to co-supervised PhD and Postdoctoral Programmes. 

Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), the Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC), the Government Tool Room and Training Centre (GTTC), and the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) in Karnataka will be part of these MoUs and collaborations. 

One of the MoUs will lead to the establishment of Karnataka–U.K. HealthTech and MedTech Innovation Hubs through academic partnerships, Research and Development (R&D) collaboration, technology transfer, and dual-degree programmes between Karnataka medical universities and U.K. institutions. This will take off with pilots in Bengaluru across medicine, nursing, and allied health sciences, with credit transfer pathways and potential scale-up to other cities.

The Strategic Academic and Research Collaboration in Healthcare MoU brings together the University of Cambridge, the University of Wolverhampton, RGUHS and KSHEC in areas like joint research, clinical trials, healthcare innovation, and academic exchange. It will open opportunities for faculty/student mobility, joint publications, and the development of healthcare best practices. The MoU for Collaborative Research, Training and Innovation in Healthcare will lead to establishing a Centre of Excellence in Healthcare Decarbonisation for Sustainable Practices. 

Joint Research and Academic Collaboration MoU will offer joint research funding for collaborative projects in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, neuroscience, and climate–health, facilitated through coordinated calls for proposals between UK Research Councils and Karnataka State Research Foundations, sources said. 

Another MoU will offer co-supervised PhD and Postdoctoral programmes across Karnataka and U.K. universities, through structured frameworks enabling joint supervision, shared financial support, and academic exchange. 

U.K. and Karnataka will also collaborate on public health research like pandemic preparedness, primary healthcare delivery, and health equity through a joint U.K.-Karnataka working group and shared policy recommendations.