NMC Relief: Equal Stipend, no extra fee for FMGs for Pursuing Internship in India

New Delhi: In a major relief to the Foreign Medical Graduates who want to enroll for MBBS internship in India, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has clarified that henceforth the Indian medical colleges shall not charge any fees from the medical graduates from abroad for permitting them to do internship in India.

Not only this, now the FMGs will be paid equal stipend and other facilities like the Indian Medical Graduates who are being trained at Government Medical Colleges, NMC mentioned in its recent notification that was issued yesterday.

The issue of the foreign medical graduates dealing with the incomplete internship due to unavoidable circumstances including the Covid-19 pandemic and the war has also been addressed by NMC as it has allowed those students to complete their remaining part of internship in India after clearing the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE).

Such reliefs from NMC has come as the apex medical education regulatory body took note of the fact that the medical graduates from abroad are facing hardship in getting themselves registered in some of the State medical Councils after publication of Foreign Medical Graduates Licentiate Regulations, 2021 and Compulsory Rotatory Medical Internship Regulations, 2021 by National Medical Commission.

Referring to this, the apex medical body mentioned in its notice that the FMGL Regulations, 2021 would not be made applicable if-

"a. Foreign medical graduates who have acquired a foreign medical degree or primary qualification, as the case may be, prior to 18th Nov, 2021;

b. Candidates who have joined their undergraduate medical education in foreign institutions prior to 18th Nov, 2021; and

c. Such foreign medical graduates who are specifically exempted by the Central Government, by notification."

The FMGL Regulations 2021, which was issued on November 18, 2021, had cleared mentioned about the mandatory criteria for getting a registration in India. Those criteria included an MBBS course with a minimum duration of fifty-four months, a mandatory twelve months internship in the same foreign medical institutes, supervised internship in India for twelve months, passing the National Exit Test, etc.

Clearly, those regulations had spelled out the doom for many foreign medical institutes offering MBBS course with duration less than fifty-four months, and also those institutes who offered only teaching facilities and not the training facilities.

However, in the recent notification, NMC acknowledged the problems that several foreign medical graduates were facing and clarified, "Therefore, the Foreign Medical Graduates(FMGs) who have acquired a foreign medical degree or primary qualification, as the case may be, and the candidates who have joined their education in foreign institutions, prior to 18th Nov, 2021, shall be governed by the provisions contained in previously applicable regulations, namely "The Screening 'Test Regulations 2002" and "The Eligibility Requirement for Taking Admission in an Undergraduate Medical Course in a Foreign Medical Institution Regulations, 2002".

Also Read: Foreign Medical Graduates stage protest in Tamil Nadu after No from Medical Council for MBBS Internship

However, NMC mentioned in the notification that the CRMI Regulations have been made effective from the date of publication in Gazette of India ic. 18 Nov 2021. As per the provision contained in NMC's CRMI Regulations, Indian citizens (including overseas Indian citizens) who are Foreign Medical Graduates who do not fall under the purview of the National Medical Commission (Woreian Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, 2021 shall be regulated by the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 13 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 (102 of 1956) in accordance with the Advisory no MCI-203(1)(Gen)/2020- Regn./ 118239, dated the 2nd September, 2020 and shall be required to complete CRMI in India if they have not undergone such practical training after obtaining such qualification as may be required by the rules and regulations in force in the country granting such qualification or has not undergone any practical training in that country.

Addressing the issue of medical graduates from abroad who are dealing with the issue of incomplete internship due to issues like Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war etc., the NMC in a form of relief, has mentioned in the notification, "In addition to the above, it has further been observed that there are also some Foreign Medical Graduates with incomplete internship due to such compelling situation which is beyond their control, such as Pandemic COVID-19 and war etc. Considering the agony & stress faced by these foreign medical graduates, their application to complete the remaining part of internship in India is considered eligible. Accordingly, the same may be processed by State Medical Councils provided that the candidates must have cleared FMGE before applying for completion of internship in India."

Issuing directions to the State Medical Councils, the notification further stated, "Taking into the consideration all the relevant provisions of NMC's Regulations and circumstances, the Commission decided to issue the detailed guidelines/process which is required to be followed by State Medical Councils for grant of registration of FMGs till further instructions from the Commission or implementation of NExT Exam, whichever occurs earlier. State Medical Councils should ensure the following conditions/criteria while processing the case for grant of registration of FMGs:

(i) The medical qualification/degree must be registerable to practice medicine in their respective jurisdiction of the country in which the medical degree is awarded and at par with the license to practice medicine given to citizen of that country.

(ii) Documentary evidence certifying successful completion of physical training or internship during the medical qualification equivalent to MBBS, if conducted in foreign institute.

(iii) Copy of passport with VISA and immigration details

(iv) Foreign Medical Graduate Examination(FMGE) conducted by National Board of Examination (NBE) should be cleared by the candidates seeking registration in India.

(v) If the candidate is found fulfilling all the above mentioned criteria, provisional registration may be granted by State Medical Councils for 12 month internship or balance period, as the case may be.

(vi) Internship shall be permissible in medical college hospital or hospital attached to medical colleges, permitted by the Commission.

(vii) 'The maximum quota for allocation of internship to FMGs must be restricted to additional 7.5% of total permitted scats in a medical college.

(vii) State Medical Councils should obtain an undertaking from the medical college that no amount/fee is charged by the medical college from the FMGs for permitting them to do their internship. 'The stipend & other facilities to FMGs should be extended equivalent to Indian Medical Graduates being trained at Government Medical Colleges as fixed by the appropriate authority applicable to the institution/University or State."

These guidelines, issued by NMC, are clearly going to provide relief to numerous foreign medical graduates from abroad, who need to pay a hefty amount for just enrolling themselves for the MBBS internship, which is a must for obtaining a registration in India. In fact, the medical graduates from abroad also complain of not getting any stipend during their period of internship. The new NMC guideline is expected to solve that issue too.

Apart from this, it will provide a huge relief to thousands of FMGs, who failed to return to their parent institutes abroad due to Covid-19 pandemic or those who have just returned from Ukraine following the war.
To view the official notice click on the following link:

https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/document-1-171721.pdf