African students set their sights on China

The ministry sets the numbers for each qualifying university's MBBS student intake. For 2018-19, a total of 48 medical universities in China have been given permission to accept 3,470 MBBS international students, compared with 6,020 in 2013-14.

The government and universities also encourage international students to do internships at local hospitals before they graduate.

After studying at school, Nkengurutse began his one-year internship at the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University in late 2014.

One of his initial difficulties was related to language rather than medicine.

Because few people could communicate well enough in English, Nkengurutse had to rely on his poor Chinese, and conversing was often difficult. But he persevered with learning the language, and six months later was having few problems in communicating fluently with all his patients.

Lei said, "For African students in China, language is the most important thing if they want to integrate into the local community and gain practical experience."

Students who know little or no Chinese can take classes taught in English, but it is becoming increasingly common for them to take courses so that they at least have elementary skills in Chinese, he added.

After many of the African students graduate, they return home, taking all their newly acquired skills with them.

Nkengurutse, now a postgraduate student at Dalian Medical University, said that after his education in China is completed, he may work as a doctor at a hospital for several years before returning to Burundi to "give something back to its people".