FMG Internship issue in MP: Medical Council clears 25 FMGs for registration
Bhopal: Amidst the protest from the Foreign Medical Graduates (FMG) in Madhya Pradesh, who have been demanding one-year mandatory internship instead of two, the Madhya Pradesh Medical Council (MPMC) has now cleared the names of 25 names of students for registration with medical colleges after completing 1 year of internship.
This comes after the State Medical Education Department directed MPMC to dispose of the pending cases of FMGs who hold offline certificates. Accordingly, after verifying the documents including the offline certificates, the Council has cleared the names of 25 medical graduates from abroad.
Earlier, the FMGs from abroad staged a demonstration at the MPMC office pressing for their demands for one-year internship instead of two. As per the rules, the FMGs become eligible to appear for NEET-PG or they can register themselves to practice in India only after completing their internship in India.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the FMGs who came back from Ukraine were upset with the NMC rule for two-year internship programme. Referring to the fact that Indian medical students are required to undergo only one year of internship, the FMGs called it discrimination.
Previously, the Supreme Court had directed the NMC for formulating policy to grant temporary registration for those MBBS graduates who have completed their medical education abroad but were unable to fulfill the requirement of practical training in their parent institutes outside of India.
Also Read: Medical Students from Ukraine Upset with NMC's 2-year Internship Rule, stage protest
Last year, NMC decided to frame a scheme and granted relaxation to medical graduates who completed their MBBS course from a foreign medical institute without undergoing physical clinical training.
While NMC allowed the Indian Students in the last year of their MBBS course to appear in the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE), it also clarified that after qualifying the exam, such foreign medical graduates would be required to undergo CRMI for two years. The doubling of the internship period is aimed at overcoming the deficit in clinical and practical skills training.
Therefore, the FMGs are allowed to get registration to practice in India only after completing the two-year CRMI programme, where the Indian medical students need to undergo internship only for one year. However, Ukraine-returned medical students in Bhopal are upset with this discrimination regarding the duration of internship with the Indian medical students.
As per the latest media report by Free Press Journal, the MPMC had recently been directed to clear the pending cases of FMG internship. Commenting on this, Medical Graduate from Ukraine, Dr. Udit Soni told the daily, "Commissioner, Medical Education, John Kingsly AR, has instructed MP Medical Council registrar Dr Rajendra Nigam to clear the pending cases of FMGs who have submitted offline certificates. Those who have completed one-year internship should be allowed to appear for NEET PG. ”
Addressing the matter, the registrar of MPMC Dr. Rajendera Nigam had recently clarified that the pending cases would be cleared after verifying the documents. He further mentioned, “They are demanding one-year internship. It will be decided after document verification.”
There are around 600 FMGs in Madhya Pradesh and among them, the State Medical Council has cleared the names of 25 students for registration with medical colleges after completing one year of internship, adds Free Press Journal.
Speaking about this, Dr. Udit Soni added, "list of 25 students who has completed 1 year internship has been cleared for registration with medical colleges. These FMGs are now eligible for NEET PG. The remaining students will also be cleared in the days to come."
“Due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the conflict in Russia and Ukraine, several FMGs were unable to finish their training in those countries. In March 2022, National Medical Commission (NMC) permitted graduates who had returned to India and received their MBBS degree on or before June 30, 2022 to sit for the FMG test,” he further added.
Also Read: FMG Internship in Rajasthan: Students begin Indefinite Sit-in Protest demanding allotment
