NMC releases draft regulations for foreign medical graduates

NEW DELHI: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has released the new draft regulations for Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) at nmc.org.in. As per the notice, authorities have placed the FMGs draft regulations for inviting comments under Section 57.

The draft regulations provide information regarding the eligibility criteria for licensing those who want to practice medicine in India. These regulations shall be implemented in the country from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

“A person intending to practice in India after obtaining primary Medical qualifications have to qualify the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) until the National Exit Test (NExT) becomes operational,” the new FMGs draft stated.

What does the FMGs new regulation draft say?

Authorities have clearly stated that no person will be allowed to obtain a license for practising medicine in India unless they fulfil the eligibility criteria.

Eligibility criteria to practice medicine in India

As per the FMGs new draft regulation, the eligibility criteria have been divided into two parts.

For those who have done their Class 12 from India and MBBS from abroad

• Must have passed the Class 12 board exam from any recognized board in India with the minimum eligible marks.

• Aspirants must have physics, chemistry, biology, or biotechnology as their core subjects.

• Aspirants seeking Foreign Medical admission have to qualify the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) UG exam.

For those who have completed their senior secondary education and MBBS both from abroad

• Must have completed a minimum of 12 years of schooling with physics, chemistry, biology or biotechnology and English as their core subjects.

• Must have also completed at least the first year of graduation in science with subjects like physics, chemistry, biology or biotechnology.

• Must have also completed at least 54 months of undergraduate medical training along with 12 months of internship in the same country where the medical qualification was awarded.

• The MBBS degree must have been done in English medium.

The entire undergraduate medical education must have been done in the same institution and in the same country outside India. Even the internship must have been done in the same country. As per the FMGs new regulation draft, the license to practise medicine shall be valid for at least 10 years.

National Exit Test (NExT)

The National Exit Test (NExT) examination will be merged with FMGE and, as per the NMC draft regulations, NExT will consist of NExT Step 1 and NExT Step 2. For FMGs, the first step will include an additional paper to assess the knowledge of pre and para-clinical subjects. Foreign Medical Graduates are required to qualify the screening test 1 in India (FMGE/NExT) within two years of completing the MBBS abroad. Once the regulations will be implemented, FMGE shall be replaced by the National Exit Test (NExT).

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