Relief for US-bound Medical Graduates as NMC Gets Global Recognition

In a relief to medical students and graduates aspiring to study and practice in the United States (US) and other countries, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has obtained the recognition of the World Federation of Medical Education (WFME), a global accreditation body for medical institutes.

This recognition was introduced as a pre-requisite criterion in 2010 by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), the certifying agency for doctors in the US, to certify all international medical graduates who wish to practice in the country. The national accrediting agencies such as NMC were required to get WFME recognition by 2023, the deadline was later extended to 2024 due to Covid-19 pandemic.

The international doctors form one-quarter of the physician workforce in the US. The recognition requirement is aimed at harmonizing accreditation standards and improving the quality of medical education and health care worldwide.

The recognition allows Indian medical graduates to to pursue postgraduate training and practice opportunities not just in the US, but also in other countries that require WFME recognition such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.  

As part of this recognition status, all the 706 existing medical colleges in India will become accredited for the next 10 years and the new medical colleges that will be set up in this period will also get accreditation automatically.

"There was anxiety among candidates when the US had introduced the accreditation condition. However, we were hopeful that the government would take the necessary steps to obtain the recognition," said Sudha Shenoy, a city-based medical education counsellor.

Shreyasi Tendolkar, a psychiatrist at Bhabha Hospital, Bandra, said that the recognition won't change anything substantially for the graduates. "This is nothing different from what was happening before. The entrance exams and other requirements will remain the same. Several graduates have already taken Medical License Examinations (MLE) and left the country," she said.

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