Parents of Medical Students Studying in Philippines Seek Exemption from NMC FMG Licentiate Regulations

Pune: Demanding exemption from the National Medical Commission's additional eligibility criteria for foreign students, the parents of some of the medical students pursuing their medical education in the Philippines recently held a Press Conference.

In the conference, held at the Patrakar Bhavan on Saturday, the parents of such medicos also referred to the issue of rising fees and inadequate number of medical seats in government medical institutes.

They have pointed out that even though the students who had enrolled in the MD programmes in Philippines before the publication of Gazette notification of the Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate (FMGL) Regulations 2021 have been exempted, those enrolled in the BS degree at the time have not.

The majority of medical colleges in Philippines offer a composite program with first a two-year BS course and thereafter a 4 year MD course (Graduate /Primary Medical Course being equivalent to MBBS). Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that with its official gazette notification that is 18th November 2021 on the issue of (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, the NMC had specified that henceforth the minimum duration of the MBBS curriculum outside the country has to be 54 months (4.5 years).

Challenging the new regulations a PIL was filed before the Rajasthan High Court, by an MBBS student who was pursuing her medical education abroad. After taking note of the submissions, the Rajasthan High Court bench comprising Chief Justice Akil Kureshi and Justice Sameer Jain has issued notice in the matter.

Also Read: NMC says NO to Indian Embassy in Philippines seeking relief for medical students

Besides this National Medical Commission also received and considered the representations received from medical students who are pursuing BS Courses in Philippines, prior to publication of Gazette of India i.e. FMGL Regulations 2021, seeking exemption/ special dispensation.

The bone of contention was that while the actual MD course ( Graduate /Primary Medical Course being equivalent to MBBS) was of 4 years that is lesser than the required duration but the students in Phillipines were also asked to go through the BS degree, a 2 year program, which when accounted would mean a total duration fo 6 years which would be above the required norm of 54 months and hence recognizable.

Issuing a Public notice on March 25, 2022, NMC analyzed the course structure in detail and gave its decision on the matter. NMC noted that BS and MD course are two separate degrees in Philippines. BS Course cannot be equated/included with MBBS course. Therefore, after the publication of Gazette Notification dated 18.11.2021 i.e. NMC's FMGL Regulations 2021, the students who have already taken admission for any foreign medical qualification/course which is not equivalent to the MBBS Course in India, cannot be treated as eligible qualification for registration to practice medicine in India. Whereas, the students who have taken admission in MD course in Philippines prior to FMGL Regulations 2021 can be considered subject to fulfilling other prevailing eligibility criteria for registration.

"Bridging BS Course is a course for Bachelor of Science for candidates seeking to join courses in field of Science & Research in Philippines. The said course comprises of subjects of Biology similar to Class 11th & 12th in India," NMC had mentioned in the Public Notice.

NMC's decision affected around 10,000 Indian medical students who were pursuing the BS course in Philippines. Even though the Indian Embassy in Milan in the Philippines wrote to the NMC seeking relief for those students enrolled in the BS course, NMC turned down the request of the Indian Embassy to accept the BS course as a part of their undergraduate medical education curriculum.

As per the latest media report by Indian Express, the parents of students pursuing the BS course in the Philippines have sought exemption from the NMC rule and speaking about the issue, a parent whose child is studying in the Philippines, said that while students who had enrolled in the MD programmes, before the publication of the Gazette notification, those enrolled in the BS degree at that time have not been granted the same exemption.

“The BS degree is but a prerequisite degree for MD in the Philippines,” said the parent. Clarifying that their primary demand is that the students enrolled in the BS degrees in the Philippines in 2020 or 2021, before the publication of the NMC Gazette notification should also be exempted from the Commission's rule, the parent further added, “When the gazette was released, we were assured by the NMC on call that those enrolled in the BS degree will also be exempted, so we went ahead with the course. But our children have still not been exempted.”

The parents have claimed that in Pune there are up to 800 such students and there are more than 25,000 students across the country who are facing the same problem. “Without this exemption, our children will have to do two additional years of internships and take extra examinations, all of which will entail more costs,” added another parent.

Also Read: Not Equivalent to MBBS in India: NMC decision on course in Philippines