Andhra FMGs Oppose 3-year Internship, Protest Demanding Permanent Registration

Amaravati: Alleging that they are being asked to undergo additional internship years, despite not being required to do the same under the National Medical Commission's rules, the foreign medical graduates from Andhra Pradesh recently staged a protest at the Andhra Pradesh Medical Council (APMC) office in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.

Another issue that the FMGs have highlighted that they have not been issued their permanent registration even though they have completed their internship in May 2024.

Meanwhile, in response to the protest, the APMC Registrar Dr I Ramesh informed Edex that he was visiting the National Medical Commission (NMC) office regarding the concerns of the FMGs.

Also Read: NMC Relief: FMGs who have sufficiently compensated classes in physical onsite in lieu of online classes eligible for one year mandatory internship

"I'm flying to Delhi early in the morning tomorrow (January 7) along with a hard copy of the FMGs' demands, which I will share with the NMC," he told Edex.

The issue concerns the duration of the FMG internship applicable to medical graduates from abroad who are residents of Andhra Pradesh. Allegedly, they are being asked to undergo three-years of internship for undergoing online classes during the pandemic. However, the FMGs have claimed that they have compensated for their online training and last year NMC specified that FMGs who have sufficiently compensated classes in physical mode for their online classes and thereafter passed the FMGE test, would be eligible to get permanent registration after undergoing internship for one year only.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of NMC last year had issued a notice on 19.06.2024 specifying 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."

Explaining their plights, Dr. Pradeep Kumar, a medical graduate from Kyrgyzstan explained to Medical Dialogues team that there are two issues that the FMGs in Andhra Pradesh are facing. The first issue is regarding the delay in issuing permanent registration. Dr. Kumar informed that around 150 students like him completed their one-year-internship in May and applied for final registration back in May. However, since then 7-8 months have passed and despite this, they have not been allotted Permanent Registration.

The second issue is regarding the allotment for internship for the juniors and it started around 2 weeks after the counselling. Allegedly, these students were allotted 2-3 years of internship despite having a compensation certificate for the online classes.

Therefore, the demands of the FMGs include issuing final registration to those who have completed the 1-year internship and rectifying the internship allotment order for the juniors who have duly undergone compensatory classes.

"I got allotted with a one-year-internship and after completing it in May, I applied for permanent registration in May. However, on 7th June, NMC issued another notice highlighting the practice adopted by several FMGs submitting fake compensatory certificates and mentioned that everyone had to undergo 2 years of internship. Following this, the AP Medical Council halted the process of issuing permanent registration. However, when the FMGs protested in Delhi, NMC issued another notice and said that those who have compensated for their online classes would be allotted 1-year-internship," explained another medical graduate from IHSM Kyrgyzstan.

He added that despite this, the process was delayed and even though the FMGs have protested multiple times, they have still not received their permanent registration. Sometimes, the Council cited reasons such as lack of officials, sometimes it justified the delay saying that they had not received any clarification from NMC. 

"Due to this delay, we are not able to apply for counselling, not able to practice and we are also not getting any stipend. NEET PG 2025 is going to be conducted on 15th June and if we do not get our registrations soon, we won't be able to apply for that as well. So, 2 years of our lives would be wasted without any fault of ours," he added.

Reportedly, the Council has stopped the entire process of issuing permanent registration and those who have undergone the entire process through offline mode are also not getting their permanent registration certificates. Further, an FMG informed that before allotting internship to the medical graduates from abroad, the Council reportedly asked them to submit an affidavit stating that they would accept the the internship duration without any protest. 

Meanwhile, the Foreign Medical Students' Wing of All India Medical Students Association (AIMSA) has extended its support to the protesting medicos in Andhra Pradesh. 

Commenting on the matter, the National Convenor of AIMSA-FMGW Dr. Apurv Dalvi told Medical Dialogues, "AIMSA-Foreign Medical Students Wing extends our support to the FMGs from Andhra Pradesh regarding delay in granting permanent registration for more than 6-8 months. Non-adherence to NMC guidelines regarding CRMI and Stipend has added to their struggles, causing undue mental distress to both students and their families."

"We request concerned authorities to intervene and look into this crucial issue as many capable doctors are waiting to work and serve the people of Andhrapradesh despite clearing one of the tough exam FMGE followed by CRMI," he added.

Raising the issue, the All FMGs Association wrote in an X (formerly Twitter) post, "Fmgs in Andhra Pradesh are protesting against the injustice they face due to the imposition of additional internship years, despite not falling under that criteria. I find it surprising that APMC and several other state councils are unable to interpret a straightforward notice from @NMC_BHARAT dated 19-6-24, which clearly states that compensation is permissible. The relevant authorities ought to heed the legitimate requests of FMGs by granting them permanent registration and shortening their internship duration in accordance with the notice from@NMC_BHARAT."

Also Read: Around 1000 FMGs reach NMC Office Today to Discuss Issues on internships, compensatory certificates