Parents of Ukraine Returned FMGs Urge NMC to Reverse Stand on Non-Acceptance of Compensatory Certificates
Kochi: Opposing the National Medical Commission's (NMC) decision of not accepting the compensatory certificates of the Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) for their online classes, the parents of Ukraine Returned medical students have urged the Apex Medical Commission to withdraw the concerned public notice issued on June 7, 2024.
Approaching the Apex Medical Commission, the All Kerala Ukraine Medical Students and Parents Association has pointed out that the NMC notice had put the future of students in jeopardy as they took transfer or mobility options and joined other available universities to complete their studies trusting the Commission.
The foreign medical graduates are opposing the commission's recent notice, through which the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of NMC stated that compensatory certificates obtained by FMGs from their parent institutes abroad for the online classes would not be accepted by them.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that NMC took this decision after taking cognizance of the instances of medical graduates from abroad maliciously obtaining such certificates. "It has been observed that many FMGs are maliciously obtaining compensatory certificates from their parent universities for the online classes carried by them. The medical profession deals with precious human life, therefore the life of Indian citizens cannot be put at stake of poorly trained medical professionals. The UGMEB has decided that henceforth, Certificate regarding the compensation/supplementation of online theory subjects/classes with offline practical and clinical training shall not be accepted," NMC mentioned in the public notice dated 07.06.2024.
Clarifying that FMGs who underwent online classes during their years of study would have to undergo Internship for a period of two/three years, the notice further added, "FMGs who have attended their classes online for any duration during their course completion are required to qualify the FMG Examination and subsequently undergo a Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) for a period of two/three years (a schedule of 12 months to be repeated) as mentioned in the Circular dated 9.5.2023 and as per the public notice uploaded on 7 th December 2023."
As per the latest media report by The Hindu, the parents of Ukraine returned medical students blamed NMC for shifting their position without giving any consideration to the future of tens of thousands of students. They requested the authorities to extend the window period for completing the academic transfer till September 2024. "We also urged them to speed up the process of issuing visa to the students, who are waiting to join classes in their new place of study," the association said.
Their other demands include permitting them to undergo internship in approved non-teaching hospitals and removing the current deadline of 2026 fixed by the Commission. They mentioned that the authorities need to grant provisional registration to foreign medical graduates after qualifying the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) based on the documents submitted at the time of the application. Steps have to be taken for avoiding delays in granting slots for internship, they added.
Recently opposing the NMC decision of denying acceptance of compensation certificates for online classes, more than 200 foreign medical graduates reached the Commission's office.
