On Tuesday, in relief to Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs), the National Medical Commission (NMC) delivered “one-time relaxation” to the graduates in order to complete an internship in India. NMC issued the list of recognised non-teaching hospitals for Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) issued by the former Medical Council of India (MCI) for one year for internships for Foreign Medical Graduates only. The commission has documented over 650 hospitals, including non-teaching hospitals across India, where graduates can complete their training.

National Medical Commission said this relaxation is given only as a one-time measure. The allotment of FMGs in these non-teaching hospitals shall be done only via concerned state medical councils.

As per the latest circular by National Medical Commission, there are 673 hospitals where FMGs can complete their internships. NMC issued the circular when medical graduate students in India that completed their MBBS in a foreign country have been requesting the concerned leaders in different states to take measures for the smooth procedure of their FMGE internships.

The number of hospitals in different states and Union Territories consented by erstwhile MCI for objectives of compulsory rotating internship training is mentioned below:

The apex regulator of medical education and profession has requested all state medical councils and directorates of medical education to ensure the enactment of guidelines while assigning medical institutes to FMGs

According to NMC policies, the graduates must undergo supervised internships in India for at least 12 months in medical institutions approved for delivering CRMI to Indian medical graduates. The concerned state medical councils will allocate the medical colleges to these FMGs based on merit lists.

NMC stated that the "FMGs must complete their internship within two years of passing the final MBBS or Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) or National Exit Test (NExT) Step-I examination, whenever in force".

In the latest circular, NMC plainly notes that the commission has not authorized or validated the medical qualifications (both theoretical and practical) via online mode only. It stated that the online education of medical degrees (theory and practical) is not a valid mode of study.

Two-years internship

NMC has stated that the condition of two years internship is appropriate only to those Foreign Medical Graduates who were in the final year of their medical degree and returned to India due to the pandemic or the Russia-Ukraine War.

The commission said after completing the medical qualification, such foreign graduates need to qualify for FMG Exam (FMGE) and subsequently undergo CRMI for two years in a hospital connected to a medical institute only.

Other FMGs must obtain a valid medical qualification and qualify FMG Examination to undergo CRMI for one year.

National Medical Commission has asked the state medical council not to prohibit the allotment of medical institutes for an internship to FMGs on the basis of their domicile.

NMC added that an FMG could complete their internship from a medical college in any State and Union Territory if found eligible otherwise.

If an FMG has already finished the first year of their internship in any medical college in India, they shall be allowed to complete the remaining part of their internship (2 years of internship) from another medical institution in any state and UT, according to the availability of seats for performing internship for FMGs.

In May 2022, NMC asked all directorates of medical education and state medical councils to guarantee that no internship fee is charged by the medical institutes from Foreign Medical Graduates. It also requested to offer stipends and other facilities to graduates equivalent to Indian medical graduates.

However, considering the appeals and representations from different state governments, UTs, and medical institutes wherein it was intimated that there had been no budgetary requirement in their allotment of the annual budget to offer a stipend to FMG, the National Medical Commission in October 2022 explained that the amount of compensation to be paid to the interns is to be determined and set by the applicable authority relevant to the institution.

NMC said that implementing stipend guidelines for FMGs is exclusively at the discretion of the concerned state authorities under which the medical college or institute is located.

National Medical Commission said, however, the stipend is expected for FMG interns only during the second year of internship, as one year is instead of the skipped clinical training during the MBBS programme in a foreign medical institute.