Ukraine crisis: NMC allows foreign medical graduates to complete internship in India

Ukraine crisis: NMC allows foreign medical graduates to complete internship in India

Amid ongoing Ukraine crisis, NMC has considered foreign medical graduates (FMG) with incomplete internships as eligible to complete the remaining part of their internship in India Ukraine’s state-run universities providing medical education at low costs have been attracting Indian students for years. The NMC issued detailed guidelines, which are required to be followed by state medical councils for grant of registration of foreign medical graduates till further instructions from the commission or implementation of National Exit Test, whichever occurs earlier 

Published on Mar 05, 2022 01:51 AM IST

ByParteek Singh Mahal, Faridkot

Amid the ongoing evacuation of medical students from war-torn Ukraine, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has considered the foreign medical graduates (FMG) with incomplete internships due to compelling situations, like war, as eligible to complete the remaining part of their internship in India.

For securing registration to practice medicine in India, the students pursuing medical studies abroad require to do double internships — once in the country where they got the MBBS and again in India — as per the National Medical Commission (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, 2021.

Ukraine’s state-run universities providing medical education at low costs have been attracting Indian students for years. According to the country’s ministry of education and science, there are around 18,095 Indian students in Ukraine. There were hundreds of students, who were doing their internship in the final year of their course.

The NMC undergraduate medical education board in a notification stated that it has been observed that there are also some foreign medical graduates with incomplete internship due to such compelling situation which is beyond their control, such as pandemic Covid-19 and war etc. “Considering the agony and stress faced by these foreign medical graduates, their application to complete the remaining part of an internship in India is considered eligible. Accordingly, the same may be processed by state medical councils provided that the candidates must have cleared FMGE before applying for completion of internship in India,” said deputy secretary Shambhu Sharan Kumar.

The NMC issued the detailed guidelines, which are required to be followed by the state medical councils for the grant of registration of FMGs till further instructions from the commission or implementation of the National Exit Test (NExT), whichever occurs earlier.

“The state medical councils should ensure the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) conducted by the National Board of Examination (NBE) should be cleared by the candidates seeking registration in India. If the candidate is found fulfilling criteria, provisional registration may be granted by the state medical councils for 12 months internship or balance period, as the case may be. State medical councils should obtain an undertaking from the medical college that no fee is charged by the medical college from the FMGs for permitting them to do their internship. The stipend and other facilities to FMGs should be extended equivalent Indian medical graduates being trained at the government medical colleges as fixed by the appropriate authority,” it reads.