Students must have adequate information on med practice regulations in Georgia

Students must have adequate information on med practice regulations in Georgia

Several aspirants are being misguided as consultants withhold crucial Georgian government rules on the independent practice licence, which is granted after nine years of education in the country

Byline: Ayushi.Gupta1 @timesofindia.com 16.09.2024 

Medical students aspiring to study in Georgia must acquire complete information on the ground rules related to practising as a doctor after completion of the medical course. NMC has been continuously discouraging students from getting medical education abroad citing the substandard education quality.

However, several study-abroad agents/counsellors have been taking advantage of gullible students and their parents. They often withhold crucial information regarding the rules, regulations, and laws of foreign countries. These agents provide incomplete information, promising medical education that meets NMC guidelines in India, which may not always be accurate or reliable.

Innocent students and parents often realise the deceit only after they land in a foreign country and face difficulty in practising as independent doctors. 

In Georgia, any student completing Doctor of Medicine (MD) and a year-long internship is allowed to work as a junior doctor assisting a senior doctor. Most of them do not fulfil the criteria to appear for the Foreign Medical Graduate Exam (FMGE) and struggle to get a medical licence to practice in India. Sarvan Maharishi (24), Hyderabad, who wanted to study in a foreign medical college, told Education Times how he was misled into applying to a medical college in Georgia by an agent, where he paid a fee of Rs 2 lakh to the agency. Sarvan says, "I visited an education service agency in Hyderabad to get admission into a medical college in Georgia. I was unaware of Georgia's medical practice laws, which made it easy for them to deceive me." He was saved as he learnt about the regulations on the internet.

Knowing the Georgian law:

According to Georgian legislation, to take the postgraduate residency course and obtain the right to independent medical practice, one must pass the Unified State Certification Exam (Article 17, Law of Georgia on Medical Practice).

Santosh Biradar, a practising advocate from Hyderabad has been trying to create awareness about foreign medical education.

He said, "Medical colleges in Georgia provide a license for 'independent practice' only after a total of 9 years of education in the country. Agents claim that after completing a 5-year MBBS course (known as MD in Georgia) and an additional year of internship, the student would receive a license to practice. However, they withhold information on the independent practice licence, which is granted only after completing three years of residency and passing the National Post-Diploma Qualification Exam (NPDQE), in addition to the 5 years of MBBS and one year of internship."

Furthermore, it is concerning that the NMC does not recognise the junior doctor license provided in Georgia. On August 9, 2024, the Georgian Embassy in India notified Indian students about recent amendments made by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Youth of Georgia regarding the medical education system.

The notice stated, "According to Article 14 of the Law of Georgia on Medical Practice, graduates of the MD program (equivalent to MBBS in India), known as junior doctors, are authorised to perform the duties of a doctor. This is fully equivalent to an MBBS qualification in India. A junior doctor performs clinical duties under the guidance of a certified specialist. If a certified doctor is not available, a junior doctor can provide emergency medical care independently."

A senior official at the NMC, speaking on condition of anonymity, says, "NMC has been trying to train doctors through internship programmes and practical training. We want students to consider reappearing for the NEET UG and focusing on performing better in the entrance exam, rather than opting for foreign medical colleges where many countries do not follow NMC norms. 

These foreign graduates often lack the practical skills needed to treat patients independently and fail to meet the licensing requirements mandated by the NMC."

"For obtaining a licence to practise medicine in Armenia and Georgia, post-graduation in a specialised field is mandatory. Duration of postgraduation varies according to the specialisation course which may range from one to four years," reads an RTI response from the Embassy of India, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia, also holding Georgia in its jurisdiction.