How Delhi’s Gautam Nagar became the FMGE coaching hub

NEW DELHI: Vasu Goyal, from Roorkee,Uttarakhand, earned his MBBS from Ukraine’s Dnipro State Medical University in March 2022. He sat for the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) for the first time in July last year and again, in January 2024.

“I could not clear the FMGE on the first attempt. I scored just 84 out of 300 as I could not see the questions properly on the computer screen. I had undergone an operation and was unwell at the time. In my second attempt, I scored 94 out of 300,” he said. He must try again.

Following suggestions from seniors and relatives, Goyal enrolled in a coaching centre at Delhi’s Gautam Nagar. He came to this “FMGE coaching hub” in February and joined Dr Bhatia Medical Coaching Institute (DBMCI). He paid Rs 20,000 for six months, lower than the usual Rs 30,000 as he was among the top 10 students enrolled. He spends around Rs 15,000 in a month to meet other expenses and accommodation.

In an extraordinarily regimented life, Goyal wakes up at 6 am to revise and get ready for classes that start at 8 am and end at 8 pm. After that, dinner and another round of “self-study”, from 10 pm to midnight, before sleep.

“Gautam Nagar challenges you to give your best,” he said. “It has students from all over the country preparing for the FMGE. I am loving the environment here and hoping to clear the FMG examination in June.” FMGE 2024 June session is on July 6.

FMGE Exam: Most students fail

Foreign Medical Graduates (FMG) must score at least 150 to clear the FMGE and be allowed to register for internship in state medical councils and after internship, obtain a licence to practise medicine in India. The National Board of Examination (NBE) conducts the FMGE in two sessions every year – June and December – although they are usually scheduled in July and January of the next year.

FMGE is described as “tough”; the passing percentage in the December 2023 session stood at an appalling 22%. The vast majority of students fail – either the gap between the programme they were in and the Indian curriculum is too wide or the foreign medical programme is of very poor quality. The FMGE is based on the Indian medical curriculum.

In consequence, thousands of doctors with foreign qualifications flock to Gautam Nagar to prepare for FMGE every year. The locality’s narrow, crowded lanes are home to over a dozen coaching centres. Their hoardings, containing pictures of successful FMGE candidates, fill the area, right from the Green Park metro station. Gautam Nagar is a long walk from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi and Safdarjung Hospital. Its proximity to two of Delhi’s largest hospitals and India’s top medical college has only helped business.

Posters of FMGE coaching centres in Gautam Nagar. (Image: Sanjay)

The coaching fee ranges from Rs 30,000 to Rs 80,000 with offers of discounts up to 25% at some centres. Classes are held on all seven days and last for at least 12 hours in a day.

Apart from FMGE coaching, a few coaching centres also offer classes for Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test (INI-CET) and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduation (NEET-PG). Kota’s Allen Institute is the latest to join the “competitive world” of FMGE coaching in Gautam Nagar.

Also read The FMGE problem: Foreign medical graduates allege discrimination, seek reforms

FMGE Coaching in Gautam Nagar: Teachers, fee

Close to AIIMS New Delhi, Gautam Nagar first saw NEET PG and INI-CET coaching centres. It emerged as an FMGE coaching hub later.

Most of the faculties at these coaching centres are retired teachers of prestigious government medical colleges like AIIMS Delhi, Lady Hardinge Medical College, and Maulana Azad Medical College, claim coaching-centre staff. Some teach in multiple centres and even online. Some have written books on preparation.

After clearing MBBS from China Medical University, Shenyang, in 2011, Dr Bhupendra Chourasiya established Next MCI Gurukul (NMG) the same year. “There were just two-three coaching centres before 2011. Now, Gautam Nagar sees the opening of many new coaching centres every six months but they cease to exist in a year,” he said.

The Medical Institute for Screening Test (MIST) is among the oldest FMGE coaching centres in Gautam Nagar. It started in 2012. In its 12th year, MIST is charging Rs 80,000 from a student for six months – the highest in Gautam Nagar.

“In the FMGE December 2023 session, the passing percentage of MIST candidates stood at 76%. Our results speak about ourselves and you can talk to anybody in Gautam Nagar, everybody will tell you why we are the best,” said a MIST employee.

That said, every coaching centre in Gautam Nagar claims to have the “best faculties”, “quality teaching” and “guaranteed success”.

Rajesh Mishra, manager at NMG Coaching Center said it had 370 students in the December session. “We have 19 faculties for 19 subjects, with each faculty teaching only one subject. Our faculty are among the best medical teachers in India. The passing percentage of our students in the December session stood at 45%; it was 55%, highest, in December 2022,” he said.

NMG charges Rs 30,000 from students who join in groups and Rs 35,000 who join individually.

Also read NBEMS introduces time-bound sections in NEET-PG, NEET-MDS, FMGE, GPAT and other exams

Focused learning

FMGs complained that they could not focus on their studies at home and that’s why they came to Gautam Nagar. The company of others like themselves and constant discussion and competition push them to do their best, they said.

Ravi Kumar from Bihar’s Champaran completed his MBBS at Bicol University College Of Medicine (BUCM), Philippines, in March last year after spending around Rs 45 lakh. He sat for FMGE December 2023 session but could not clear the test. He will make his second attempt in June. He was enrolled in the Next Learning Center (NLC) paying a Rs 35,000 fee for one session.

Not everyone coming to Gautam Nagar even enrols for coaching.

Aditya Adsul from Maharashtra’s Solapur earned his MBBS from Russia’s Smolensk State Medical University last year and returned to India in July and cleared the FMGE on first attempt in December.

“After coming back from Russia [last year], I stayed at home for a month but could not focus on studies. Seniors from my college suggested that I go to Gautam Nagar. I went there in August and found a learning environment, peer pressure and competition. I did not enrol in any coaching centre but studied in the library,” he said.

Upon returning from Russia, Adsul was worried that he would turn out like the “many FMGE repeater students” he saw around him.

Manish Kumar completed his MBBS from a medical college in Ukraine in June 2022. Upon returning, he moved to Gautam Nagar for a few months. He first tried online coaching but soon abandoned it to study at home. “I decided to stay among the medical students at Gautam Nagar. All the students keep talking about exams and it infuses an urge among them to study and clear the exam,” he said. He will be completing his internship at the Northern Railway Divisional Hospital, Delhi, in May.

Gautam Nagar coaching business

The FMGE syllabus comprises 19 subjects taught to MBBS students in India.

FMGs are taught these 19 subjects in six months coaching at Gautam Nagar. As the competition is high due to the abysmal passing percentage of FMGE, coaching centres lure students with low fees and big claims.

“Coaching centres in Gautam Nagar summarise the four to five years syllabus of MBBS course in Indian medical colleges in five to six months. They design the course and teach the students sitting for the FMGE test. Those students who fully focus on the lessons taught in class and revise well clear the FMGE test,” said Chourasiya.

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Mishra of NMG coaching said that the services of “quality teachers” cost the coaching centre between Rs 80,000 to Rs 1,50,000 for one class which lasts usually 12 hours in one day with breaks of 15 to 25 minutes every two hours. “Big subjects like medicine last for six to seven days and small subjects last two to three days. For example, medicine classes last for seven days and we have to pay Rs 1,50,000 per day to our faculty,” Mishra said.

Due to “huge competition” among coaching centres, Mishra said, NMG is also struggling to make profits.

“If we have keep the fee at Rs 30,000, a new coaching centre or an old one which does not have good faculty will try to attract the students by offering coaching for just Rs 20,000. Students will go there considering the fee and later they fail the exam,” he said.