The National Medical Commission (NMC) has formulated a regulation mandating two 12 month internships to be completed by foreign medical graduates to get a permanent registration to practice modern scientific system of medicine or allopathy in the country under the Permanent Medical Regulations, 2021.

The regulation, titled National Medical Commission (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, 2021, stipulates that no foreign medical graduate shall practice medicine in India, unless he is granted permanent registration in accordance with the provisions of the regulation.

The grant of permanent registration to foreign medical graduates are on conditions that they should have undergone a course leading to foreign medical degree with minimum duration of 54 months and an internship for a minimum of two months in the same foreign medical institution, received a foreign medical degree with medium of instructions in English, and studies the mandatory subjects specified according to the regulation.

The graduate should also be registered with the respective professional regulatory body or otherwise, competent to grant license to practice medicine in their respective jurisdiction of the country in which the medical degree is awarded and at par with the license to practice medicine given to citizens of that country.

They should also have undergone supervised internship in India for a minimum term of twelve months, after applying for the same to the Commission and have cleared the National Exit Test or such other mandated test or tests conducted by the Commission.

The regulation is expected to have an impact on the thousands of medical students who travel out to complete their MBBS courses in overseas countries, as they might have to have a year more of internship before starting their career. 

However, according to reports, the Commission thinks that this could help to tighten the standards on the foreign medical graduates entering into medical practices in India. This could avoid students getting a graduation from foreign institutions which are not of adequate standards, getting inducted into the medical practice without any checks.

“The guiding principle for licensing a foreign medical graduate to practice in India is to ensure that the Foreign Medical Graduate fulfils the requirements of education and training equivalent or commensurate with that of an Indian medical graduate,” it said.

The criteria to recognise the foreign medical graduates applying for license or permanent registration to practice in India, stipulating that the graduate should have completed internship of twelve months in addition to medical degree courses equivalent to MBBS of India, with hands on training in clinical subjects including community medicine, general medicine, psychiatry, paediatrics, general surgery, anaesthesia, obstetrics and gynaecology, orthopaedics, ophthalmology, dermatology, emergency or casualty services, lab services and their sub-specialties.

The entire course, training and internship shall be done outside India in the same foreign medical institution throughout the course of study and no part of medical training and internship shall be done in India or in any other country other than from where the primary medical qualification is obtained. The total duration of the foreign medical graduation course shall be completed within ten years from the date of joining the course.

The new regulation may not be applicable to those foreign medical graduates who have acquired degree or primary qualification prior to the regulation coming into force and those who are pursuing their education in foreign institutions prior to the chomping into force of these regulations.

In another notification, the Commission has issued the National Medical Commission (Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship) Regulations, 2021, mandating internship to be an integral part of undergraduate medical education for a period not less than 12 months in institutions and hospitals specified in the Schedule I of the Regulations. The internship shall be completed within two years of passing the final MBBS or Foreign Medical Graduate Examination or National Exit Test Step-1 examination, whenever in force.

Reference : https://www.nmc.org.in/MCIRest/open/getDocument?path=/Documents/Public/Portal/LatestNews/231275.pdf

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