Policy Amended: Indian students with MD Degree from Philippines can now Register, practice medicine locally
New Delhi: The medical students from India who have obtained their Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from a Philippines-based college are now eligible to register and practice medicine in the Philippines.
This permission has been granted to international students including medical students hailing from India as the House of Representatives has now approved the amendment to the Philippine Medical Act of 1959 to allow medical students from abroad to register and practice medicine in the Philippines after completing their Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree.
As per a statement, to avail the benefit, the college where the international students are studying must be recognized by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). Further, it is also necessary for the aspirants to have completed a 12-month internship.
CHED will issue the necessary certification if all the conditions are met. This will ensure a smooth transition for the Indian graduates. Previously, it was mandatory for a Doctor of Medicine degree holder to be a citizen of the Philippines to be qualified to get the physicians' licensure examination.
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There are around 64 authorized medical institutes across the Philippines. As per the latest media report by Indian Express, an official statement issued mentioned that the US-aligned curriculum ensures smooth transitions to international careers, supported by a strong network of globally recognised residency programmes.
Meanwhile, referring to the changed policy, a foreign education consultant said on Friday, the Philippines is likely to see a 25 to 30 per cent rise in the number of Indian students heading to the country for medical studies after it recently made legislative changes opening its doors for foreign students to practice medicine locally once they earn their Doctor of Medicine degree
"The amendment is a landmark achievement, not only for Indian students but for all foreign medical students studying in the Philippines. It provides a clear pathway for our graduates to practice medicine locally or internationally. This change will strengthen the Philippines’ position as a leading destination for medical education in the Asia-Pacific region," Kadwin Pillai, director of Transworld Educare and chairman of Kings International Medical Academy told PTI.
The move will also benefit students aiming for medical practice in India as it aligns with the National Medical Commission's (NMC) 2021 rule that mandates possessing a valid practising licence to appear in the Indian screening test after they return from studying abroad.
Annually, around 2,000 Indian students go to the Philippines for medical studies, which is expected to grow by 25-30 per cent, as the country offers high-quality education at competitive costs, with tuition fees significantly lower than those in the Western countries, Pillai told PTI.
After the legislative amendment, Indian students who complete their Doctor of Medicine degree from a Philippine College of Medicine recognised by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), with a 12-month internship, will be eligible to register and practice medicine in the Philippines.
In India, a record 2.4 million students appeared for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (UG) this year. Overall, around 20,000 Indian students go abroad for medical education.
The top five countries that Indian students go to study medicine, include Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and the Philippines, among others. Earlier, Indian students also went to China and Ukraine for medical education, Pillai said.
"However, the numbers dropped significantly after the Covid-19 pandemic for China and Ukraine after the Ukraine-Russia war," he added.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that releasing the Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate (FMGL) Regulations that had been published on 18.11.2021, NMC had specified that henceforth the minimum duration of the MBBS curriculum outside the country has to be 54 months (4.5 years).
As a result of this, the FMGs pursuing their medical education in Philippines faced uncertainty regarding their future. This is because the majority of medical colleges in the 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). Since neither courses were of 4.5 years duration, they became invalid after implementation of the FMGL 2021 regulations.
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.
However, the students continued their protest and NMC also received several representations from various State Medical Councils and also considered grievances regarding various difficulties faced by foreign medical graduates, especially the students from Ukraine and the Phillippines.
Finally, last year in December, NMC granted a major relief to the FMGs in the Philippines as it declared that students who were studying the BS Course or had taken admission to the said course and were pursuing their studies physically in the medical institute abroad at the time of publication of the FMGL Regulation 2021, would be allowed to continue their medical education. However, while providing this one-time exemption specific to such students, NMC had clarified that such students would have to undergo an additional year of internship as per the CRMI Regulation, 2021.
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