APMC asks FMGs to wait for NMC clarication on internship duration

APMC asks FMGs to wait for NMC clarication on internship duration 

The guidelines issued by the NMC in November 2023 have been adhered to, it insists; support pours in for FMGs from various associations and political parties 

Published - July 05, 2025 06:34 pm IST -VIJAYAWADA 

THE HINDU BUREAU 

ForeignMedical Graduates during their  recent protest in Vijayawada. 

(APMC) Chairman Sreehari Rao and Registrar I. Ramesh have clarified that the council is following the National Medical Commission (NMC) guidelines. The FMGs had staged protests for four days from Monday last, demanding that the process of issuing PRs to them, pending for more than a year, be expedited. 

The delay is due to different interpretations of the guidelines issued by the NMC with regard to the duration of internship for the FMGs who have done a part of their course online during the pandemic. In a statement on July 4, the APMC Chairman and Registrar had said that the FMGs who had gone back to their universities in other countries were first allotted one-year internship.

 The NMC guidelines, released in November 2023, had come into effect later, they said. As per the guidelines, those who studied the penultimate year and final year of their medical courses online due to the pandemic should undergo two years of clerkship. This should be followed by one year of internship to make-up for the offline training. 

As per the November 2023 guidelines, if the FMGs studied online in their final year only, then they should undergo one year of clerkship and one year of internship. Accordingly, orders were issued to the principals of all medical colleges to communicate the same to the FMGs, they said. 

The APMC Chairman further said that some FMGs who had a problem with the two and three-year internship duration approached the A.P. High Court, which said that all the rules issued by the Centre and NMC should be followed. Later, an FMG had filed an appeal, the judgment for which was expected. Even while the matter was sub judice, a few FMGs had staged protests, they pointed out. 

Mr. Sreehari Rao and Mr. Ramesh said that Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav, who had taken note of the issue, instructed the APMC to schedule an appointment with the NMC and seek a solution to the problem. 

“The FMGs are not convinced and insist on continuing their agitation despite the Minister’s assurance,” the statement said. The APMC had, in its council meeting on June 17, decided to issue PRs for all those with valid compensation certificates from their parent universities. 

The graduates, at their wits’ end, began their silent protest when they felt the process was being delayed once again. Regarding the compensation certificates, Mr. Sreehari Rao and Mr. Ramesh added that these were “not justified” for their period of online study with offline study. 

They said the internship for two years was justified because the compensation certificates did not specify the period of online study. The Chairman appealed to the FMGs to wait till the NMC clarified the issue.

Support for FMGs 

Meanwhile, support started pouring for the beleagured FMGs from many medical associations and parties, including the CPI. All India Medical Students’ Association’s Foreign Medical Graduates’ wing released a statement expressing its support for the FMGs and condemning the alleged highhandedness of the police while taking protesting FMGs to police stations. 

Telangana Junior Doctors’ Association, too, expressed its support to their A.P. counterparts. A.P. The Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes’ Association criticised the APMC for refusing to issue PRs for 13 months, and added that the issue should be resolved at the earliest as the delay was causing mental distress among the FMGs. 

The Bharatiya Human Rights Council, a registered organisation, had written to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu demanding justice for the FMGs and abolition of “arbitrary” allotment of 2-3 years of internship for the FMGs. They demanded that the NMC guidelines, which other States were following, be followed in toto.