Ukraine returnees charged ‘intern fee’, National Medical Commission takes note

Faridkot, May 21

Amidst allegations of some medical colleges charging internship fee from medical students from war-torn Ukraine, the National Medical Commission (NMC) on Saturday asked the State Medical Council (SMC) and Director, Medical Education, to take necessary action and ensure that no internship fee is charged by any medical college from these interns.

As per the NMC’s Compulsory Rotatory Medical Internship Regulations, all Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) are required to undergo 12-month internship at par with local medical graduates if they desire to seek permanent registration to practice medicine in the country. About 1,000 medical students from Punjab who had returned from Ukraine when the war began in February-March are facing an uncertain future about their education.

It is alleged that some private medical colleges were demanding internship fee from these FMGs, instead of paying them monthly stipend. Internship refers to a training programme in which an MBBS graduate is able to learn methods/modalities to administer actual practice of medical and healthcare. During the internship, a medical college pays monthly stipend to these medical graduates.

The NMC further directed that stipend, including other facilities be provided to these FMGs as equivalent to local medical graduates. In a letter sent to the SMC and Director, Medical Education, Shambhu Sharan Kumar, Deputy Secretary, NMC, said the council had received complaints that some medical colleges were charging internship fee from the FMGs for doing internship and students were not being paid stipend. — TNS

Take steps, state commission told

The National Medical Commission (NMC) on Saturday asked the State Medical Council (SMC) and Director, Medical Education, to take necessary action and ensure that no internship fee is charged by any medical college from these interns.

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