Medicos who did online internship may face action

Medicos who did online internship may face action

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  12.12.2020

At least 20 students from medical schools in China, who applied to the Tamil Nadu State Medical Council for registration after doing their MBBS internship or medical courses and exams online, have been asked to explain why legal action should not be initiated against them for not telling the council that they did their course/internship online.

Registration with the state medicalcouncilis mandatory to practice medicine or do internship in Tamil Nadu. “But medical education cannot be done online. Internships have to be hands-on,” said Tamil Nadu state Medical Council president Dr K Senthil.

Between March and May, many foreign medical students left campuses during the Covid-19 pandemic. While some returned to their colleges, some universities, particularly in China, let final year students to complete the last leg of the course and examinations online. Students who were doing internships were allowed to do it online. “We did not have a choice. My daughter has cleared the foreign medical graduate examination andhascompleted her internship online. Many of her classmates from other states have got their permanent registration,” said Sharadha S, whose daughter has studied at a medical college in China.

But the council has said foreign medical graduates, who have completed an MBBS degree or internship online, are not eligible for applying for provisional or final registration. A notice published by the council on the official website said: “If candidates apply, hiding the fact of an online course … it will be considered as misconduct and appropriate action will be taken.” Show-cause notices have been issued seeking explanation for this. “We are aware this is an extraordinary situation. So we have decided to give provisional registration to students who have not completed their internships so that they can do it at both government and private medical colleges here. We will not permit online internships,” Dr Senthil said.