Indian students pursuing medical studies abroad, who could not complete their internship due to compelling situations such as war and the COVID pandemic, will now be able to finish their remaining internships in the country, the government said on March 25, as reported by PTI.

This will, however, be subject to the condition that such candidates must have cleared FMGE (Screening Test), which is mandatory for Indian students with foreign medical qualifications to practise Medicine in India, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. She was responding to a question on whether the government proposes to frame a scheme for admission of students who have returned from China and those from Ukraine to medical colleges in the country and also to allow them to do their internship in India.

Pawar, in her written reply, said section 14 of the NMC Act, 2019 prescribes conducting of a uniform entrance examination namely NEET to all medical educational institutions at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Also, Clause 8 (iv) of Eligibility Requirement for Taking Admission in an Undergraduate Medical Course in a Foreign Medical Institution Regulation, 2002, provides for that any Indian citizen/Overseas citizen of India intending to obtain a primary medical qualification from any medical institution outside India, on or after May 2018, shall have to mandatorily qualify NEET for admission to MBBS course.

The result of the NEET exam shall deem to be treated as the Eligibility Certificate for such persons and no separate permission is required from the NMC, Pawar said. Therefore, data of students going abroad to pursue MBBS is not maintained centrally. "The NMC, for the betterment of Indian students pursuing medical studies abroad, vide circular dated 04.03.2022 has allowed foreign medical graduates with incomplete internships due to such compelling situation which is beyond their control such as war and COVID-19 pandemic etc. to complete the remaining part of their internship in India, subject to the condition that such candidates must have cleared FMGE (Screening Test), which is mandatory for Indian students with foreign medical qualification to practice Medicine in India," she said.