Relief for Rajasthan FMGs: 500 Internship Seats Added to 5 GMCs

Jaipur: Amid the ongoing protest by the foreign medical graduates (FMG) in Rajasthan seeking enrolment in the mandatory internship programme, the Rajasthan Medical Education Society (RajMES) has increased 500 posts for FMG internship in five government medical colleges in the State.

Issuing an order in this regard on 10.01.2025, RajMES announced that 100 internship seats each would be added to the Government Medical Colleges in Baran, Banaswara, Sawai Madhopur, Nagaur, and Jhunjhunun.

Therefore, now, altogether 500 more FMG internship seats will remain available for the medical graduates from abroad.

As per the existing rules, it is mandatory for Foreign Medical Graduates to first clear the screening exam i.e. Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE), and thereafter undergo the mandatory internship to be eligible to get permanent registration and get a license to practice medicine in India.

Also Read: FMG internship in Rajasthan: Medical Council invites Applications, check details

In Rajasthan, despite the fact that altogether 979 students cleared the screening exam i.e. FMGE, only 578 students were able to get internship seats and 347 students were still waiting for the second round of counselling. Not getting any response from the authorities, the medical graduates from abroad resorted to protest in front of the Department of Education's office in Jaipur.

These students appeared in the FMGE exam back in June 2024 and cleared the same. First, they were highlighting the issue of delay in commencing the counselling process to enroll the FMGs in the internship programme.

In fact, back on November 18, 2024, the All Rajasthan MBBS Doctors Association (ARMDA) had written to the DME in this regard. The association had urged the DME officials to issue the internship counselling schedule for the FMGE June 2024 session at the earliest.

Following this, the counseling schedule was released. However, even after the counselling, more than 300 FMGs did not get enrolled to the internship programme and the DME was silent on the matter as well.

This led to a protest by the medical graduates from abroad and on January 09, 2025, the FMGs in Rajasthan commenced an indefinite sit-in protest. Amid this, RajMES authorities on January 10, in a communication directed to the Registrar of the Rajasthan Medical Council (RMC), informed about the addition of 500 more FMG internship seats in 5 medical colleges across Rajasthan.

Increase in the FMG internship seats has been welcomed by the doctors in Rajasthan. Hinting at the possibility of increase of FMG Internship seats, yesterday, the President of ARMDA, Dr. Vinod Bagra had mentioned in an X (formerly Twitter) post, "Finally, after the interference of All Rajasthan MBBS Doctors Association, the demands of FMGE students have been accepted. ARMDA state president @Dr_Vinod_Bagra has just spoken to DME director Dr Iqbal Khan sir, in which an agreement was reached to release 400 seats for internship. Order will be issued soon."

The United Doctors' Front (UDF) has also welcomed the Government's decision to increase the number of FMG Internship seats. Commenting on this, Dr. Lakshya Mittal, the National President of UDF told Medical Dialogues, "This initiative is a commendable step toward addressing the growing need for accommodating FMG doctors and integrating them into the healthcare system."

Dr. Mittal further emphasized the importance of resolving the issue of pending FMGs still awaiting internship opportunities. “We remain hopeful that the government will soon take proactive measures to ensure every FMG gets the opportunity to serve and contribute to the healthcare sector,” he stated.

Earlier, the President of UDF Rajasthan, Dr. Bharat Pareek had also written to the Commissioner of Medical Education and appealed to conduct the second internship counselling of FMG doctors before the results were published for January and send all the doctors to the respective medical colleges for internship.

Also Read: Doctors move DME as Rajasthan Medical Council says FMG Internship stipend not its Concern