The National Medical Commission (NMC) has changed its position after withdrawing its policy, which permitted foreign medical graduates (FMGs) to substitute offline instruction for online instruction, a few days ago.
In its most recent circular, the National Medical Council said, "In continuation to the public notice of even number dated 07th June, 2024, it is clarified that all students who have sufficiently compensated classes in physical onsite in lieu of the online classes and subsequently passed examination equivalent to MBBS in India, shall be eligible for one year mandatory internship as specified in the CRMI Regulations 2021."
According to the notification, everything else will stay the same as it was stated in the public notice dated December 7, 2023. This public notice also applies to students from other countries who have passed examinations comparable to the MBBS in India and are in a similar situation.
FMG's protest
Following the earlier announcement, a number of FMGs demonstrated against the new policy in front of the NMC notice and called for the notice to be withdrawn, citing the lengthy period and the process's delay as well as the financial and psychological toll it took.
The 3-year internship requirement was implemented by NMC because of reports of some students "maliciously" obtaining certificates of compensation from their parent universities. It had said, "The life of Indian citizens cannot be put at risk by medical professionals who lack proper training because the medical profession deals with precious human life."
For FMGs seeking either provisional or permanent registration with the NMC and possessing an MBBS degree from a foreign medical institution, the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE 2024) is administered.
