Foreign MBBS degree holders to get registration only after 2-year compulsory rotating medical internship: NMC to SC

Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, July 28

Final year MBBS students studying abroad who were forced to leave their college due to Russia-Ukraine war or Covid-19 but subsequently completed their course and were granted certificate of completion of course will be permitted to appear in Foreign Medical Graduation (FMG) Examination, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has told the Supreme Court.

“Thereafter, upon qualifying the FGM Examination, such foreign medical graduates are required to undergo Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) for a period of two years to make up for the clinical training which could not be physically attended by them during the undergraduate medical course in the foreign institute as also to familiarise them with practice of medicine under Indian conditions,” the NMC said in an affidavit.

“The foreign medical graduates will be eligible to get registration only after completing the RCMI for two years,” the NMC said, adding the scheme has been approved in its 8thmeeting.

After perusing the NMC affidavit, a Bench led by Justice Hemant Gupta on July 25 disposed of the matter, saying, “No further orders are called…”

On April 29, the Supreme Court had ruled that foreign MBBS holders can’t be given provisional registration to complete their internship in India without completing the clinical training in physical form.However, in view of a large number of Indian medical students coming back from Ukraine, it had directed the NMC to frame a scheme as a one-time measure within two months to allow such student to undergo clinical training in India.

In its compliance affidavit, the NMC said following the top court’s verdict it consulted the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of External Affairs and as a “one-time measure” decided to frame a scheme and grant relaxation to foreign medical graduates who have completed their medical course from a foreign medicate institute without undergoing physical clinical training due to an extraordinary situation created by Russia-Ukraine war and Covid-19 pandemic.

The NMC said that China has begun the process of facilitating the return of the students back to their country while the Russian Federation was allowing Indian students evacuated from Ukraine to continue their studies over there. Kazakhstan was also open to allowing Indian students evacuated from Ukraine to continue their studies in medical institutes of their country, it added.

The affidavit stated that “About 20,000 Indian medical students are enrolled in different medical colleges/universities in Ukraine and all medical universities are providing online classes to Indian students.”

It said the Ministry of Education and Science, Ukraine, has directed the heads of educational institutions to resume and carry out the educational process while ensuring the most favourable learning conditions, taking into account the location of staff and students.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Health has also ordered rescheduling of the first stage of qualifying examination – also known as KROK-1 – for foreign students to be held offline in October 2022, it said, adding KROK-2 will not be held for students graduating in 2022.

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