Undergraduate medical education in Nepal: one size fits all?

Nepal is a small developing country in South Asia situated between China and India. The last fifteen years have seen a tremendous growth in the number of medical schools in the country. At the beginning of August 2011 there were eighteen medical schools and all except four were in the private sector [1]. The private schools are run by both Nepalese and foreign (mainly Indian) groups. Nepalese-owned schools provide 10% and foreign owned schools 20% of the total seats with full tuition scholarship to students, who are selected through an entrance examination conducted by the Ministry of Education. These students have to serve in health facilities in rural Nepal for two years after graduation and are becoming an important source of support to Nepal's health system [2].