MBBS Abroad: Internship, NEXT exam in new rules for foreign medical graduates

New Delhi: Students who complete their medical education abroad will now have to complete a 12-month supervised internship period in India before they can register to practice here. This will be in addition to the 12-month internship they will do as part of their studies in the foreign country.

This apart, the licensing exam all such candidates must write to be registered in India, the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE), will be replaced by the National Exit Test (NEXT).

The Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations 2021 came into effect from November 18, 2021, as they were notified by the NMC. The notification talks about the requirements that a candidate who aspires to practice in India need to fulfil before applying for permanent registration in India.

Also Read: NMC notifies regulations for medical internship; one week of AYUSH training included

Foreign MBBS: Double internship

The medical education programme a candidate enrolls in must span a minimum of 54 months of instruction and be in English-medium. The new regulations also require the candidates to complete 12 months of internships in the same foreign institution where they studied the rest of the programme.

“The entire course, training and internship or clerkship 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 country other than [the] country from where the primary medical qualification is obtained,” says the new notification.

Once they return, foreign medical graduates have to complete another 12 months of “supervised internship” before appearing for the licensing exam.

Also Read: ‘Even 1 year is crucial’: Why delay in NEET PG counselling has led to doctors' strike today

NEXT replacing FMGE

The Foreign Medical Graduates Examination, which very few actually qualify, will be replaced by the National Exit Test. Students are expected to study a curriculum that is equivalent to the Indian MBBS.

Introduced as part of the general overhaul brought by the National Medical Commission’s replacing the Medical Council of India in 2019, the NEXT will also serve as an exit exam for MBBS graduates in India and an entrance test for postgraduate studies in medicine (MD, MS). It is expected to eventually replace the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET PG).

The total time frame students get for completing their courses is 10 years.