NMC MBBS Internship Regulations Challenged: Gujarat HC issues notice

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has recently issued notice to the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the NHL Medical College on a plea challenging the Commission's MBBS Internship rules that put an end to the practice of allowing students pursue their internship at a different institute.

Enrolled in Ahmedabad-based NHL Medical College, the petitioner Shruti Gupta approached the HC bench as she wishes to pursue her internship with a Vadodara based GMERS College. However, despite approaching both the colleges and the NMC, her pleas went unheard and therefore she filed the plea before the HC bench.

As per the previous regulations, the MBBS students could take up their internship at any medical college in India after obtaining an NOC in this regard from the concerned institutes.

However last year NMC, the Apex medical education regulatory body changed this rule and put an end to the practice of externships. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that releasing Draft Regulations For Rotational Compulsory Regulations, 2021, NMC had clarified for the first time that the MBBS students would be required to complete their mandatory internship period at their parent institutes.

As per the latest media report by Ahmedabad Mirror the student's counsel submitted that she had pursued her MBBS in compliance with the Graduate Medical Regulations, 1997, which enables the students to take up the 12-month compulsory internship at any recognised medical college or hospital in the country. Despite this fact, the authorities were not considering her application for internship at a Vadodara based hospital, submitted the counsel.

It was further argued by the counsel for the student that the Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship Regulations, 2021 had been framed by the NMC in 2021 after the introduction of NMC Act in 2019. However, the student's case would not fall under the concerned regulations since she had already taken admission under the 1997 regulations.

At this outset, the student's lawyer referred to the Section 49 of the NMC Act, which clearly mentions that the students studying for a degree before the commencement of the Act would be entitled for continuing and completing the course as per the syllabus operative before the commencement of the Act. 

Therefore, the NMC rule regarding internship cannot be applied for the petitioner, who had taken MBBS admission under the previous 1997 Act and her study would be governed by the regulations framed under that Act.

Further claiming that the new NMC regulations are ultra vires of the provisions of the Act, the plea pointed out that the regulations had not been placed before the Parliament as per the procedure prescribed under the Act. Therefore she should be allowed to undertake medical internship in Vadodara as per the old law, it stated.

After taking note of the matter, the HC bench comprising of Chief Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Ashutosh Shahtri opined the petition to be immature since the concerned colleges have not yet taken any call regarding the request of the student, adds the Times of India. Therefore, the bench remarked that the petitioner student should have waited for the colleges to respond.