Evacuated students pursuing medicine from Ukraine can appear for FMGE, approves NMC

|HT|

Recently graduated Indian students pursuing medicine in foreign countries, and currently stuck in India either due to Covid or the Russia-Ukraine conflict will be allowed to appear for the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) this year. This decision was approved by the National Medical Commission (NMC) and a circular on the same was released on Friday. “Indian students who were in the last year of their undergraduate medicine course (due to Covid-19, Russia-Ukraine war had to leave their foreign medical institutes and return to India) and have subsequently completed their studies (and) have been granted a certificate of completion of course/degree on or before June 30, shall be permitted to appear in FMGE,” states the circular dated July 28.

Upon qualifying for the FMG examination, such foreign medical graduates will be required to undergo a Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) for a period of two years. “This is being done to make up for the loss of physical training by such students who could not physically be present during the UG medicine course in the foreign institute, as well as to familiarise such students with practise of medicine under Indian conditions,” states the circular. It further states that foreign medical graduates will be eligible for registration in India only after completion of CRMI. NMC has also clarified that this is a “one-time only” exception to their rule.

This move comes as medical students from various foreign universities, including those from China, Russia, and Ukraine are currently stuck in India, with no hopes of getting back to their universities in the near future. While students welcome the move to allow them to appear for FMGE, many feel this is not a solution.

“The fact that we will have to intern for two years instead of the mandatory one year means we waste an extra year. Anyway, we have been stuck with online classes, and now while this move to allow us to appear for FMGE is a positive one, many might prefer going back to China and completing our internship,” said Dr Shahroz Khan Sherry, who recently graduated from Nantong Medical University.

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