Recently, some agencies falsely accused the European University in Tbilisi, Georgia, of not meeting educational standards. The exact misleading accusations were:

1. This medical school is not on the GMC’s list of accepted universities in Georgia.
2. The Medicine course at the university was below the 5,500 hours GMC threshold.
3. The university had its accreditation revoked in the past by the Authorization Board of Institutions of Higher Education in Georgia.

Nino Taliashvili, the university’s rector, has provided evidence and a point-by-point rebuttal of all the accusations.

An outdated curriculum from 2014 was misused to damage the institution's reputation by claiming that the university does not offer enough hours.

As Taliashvili says: “European University's Medical Doctor program was accredited according to the requirements of the WFME, which requires the medical curriculum to meet the medical education standards, including minimum required hours and criteria, and undergoing rigorous evaluations in numerous areas.”

Universities usually have a quota of students they can recruit per year. In 2018, the University was so sought after by international students that it filled its student quota 3 years in advance. As a result, the university agreed with the ministry of education to not recruit for the following 2 years.

If a Georgian university has its accreditation revoked by the national Authorisation Board, it will cease operating immediately. 

However, in 2019: “[The] National Center For Educational Quality Enhancement of Georgia not only reversed its decision and allowed the University to admit new students, but raised the student quota from 1500 to 3000 students,” Talashvili says.

There is NO GMC "List of Accepted Universities"

The UK's General Medical Council (GMC) does not have a list of accepted, accredited or approved universities. The GMC has hundreds of medical schools that they accept worldwide, but they do not provide such a list. They only provide their acceptance criteria.

The accusation was based on a single screenshot used out of context:

The truth about this image

The process of applying with the GMC is by first creating an online profile. This is, so the graduate doctor provides information about their primary medical qualification. This includes the name of the university the doctor graduated from. Herein, the GMC provides a database of universities from which they have had previous applicants.

This GMC database of universities does not indicate whether a university is acceptable for the GMC. The above image simply shows Georgian universities that the GMC had applicants from. This does not mean those doctors were all accepted, only that they filled in the application form.

If a university is not listed, it means its graduates have not yet applied for GMC registration. This database does not signify that the university is not accepted.

It is concerning when agencies use the above to prove accreditation or acceptance of a university. This is because the GMC has only a “not acceptable” or “may accept” list of qualifications.

The European University of Tbilisi rector says regarding the accusations: “Mixing these two different lists (non-existing GMC list of the approved foreign universities, and the existing list of foreign universities whose graduates have applied for recognition of their diplomas) is deceptive.”

European University of Tbilisi in the directory (Update April 5, 2022)

For those who may be interested in the university listed in the GMC's directory, a European University graduate registered their application for registration with the GMC recently. After he filed the application with the General Medical Council, the regulating body added the university as an awarding body of medical qualifications. European University is now listed as an institution on the GMC website for students applying for registration.

Additional Considerations

Talashvili presents the national registration of the university and its listing in the World Directory of Medical Schools and the ECFMG recognition. In addition, the rector emphasises that all MD/DMD degrees from the European University receive worldwide recognition, including the UK, EU, USA, Canada, and Australia. 

All accusations are twisted, misrepresented and false - having no grounds. Taliashvili is a realist about such events. The rector recalls that the same "agency," who previously approached the university for partnership and then got rejected, now tries to tarnish its name with misinformation.

As Taliashvili says: “Unfortunately, in the competitive world of recruitment, it sometimes happens that some parties use such unethical and unacceptable methods as used against European University. However, we hope that prospective students will focus more on the actual academic values of the European University. We are open to questions and constructive discussion.”

Beware companies that use misinformation to promote their agenda instead of focusing on students.

At Medlink Students, we focus all our energy on you - the student. We are always trying to find you opportunities by providing you with factual, accurate, and up-to-date information so you can make an informed decision on what’s best for you.

You can always verify every statement in this article by contacting the relevant authorities, such as the GMC or European University in Tbilisi. Information on GMC regulations was gathered from various communication with the GMC. We encourage you to contact the GMC when considering medical universities: https://www.gmc-uk.org/contact-us.