Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) met with Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, yesterday, January 6, to request a relaxation of a directive by the National Medical Council (NMC). The NMC notification dated July 29, 2022, mandates two years of Compulsory Rotatory Medical Internship (CRMI) for FMGs instead of one. This new regulation is for everyone who completed their undergraduate degrees and passed their Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) on or before June 30, 2022.
Dr Shahroz Khan, an FMG, took to Twitter to post: '"A team of FMG Doctors met @mansukhmandviya in New Delhi to provide relaxation about 2yr CRMI & end this injustice so that we could achieve the dream to serve our motherland #FMGs #
"The meeting was great, and we got a 99 per cent assurance from the minister that there will be no two years of internship," says Dr Mohit Tiwari, one of the FMGs who attended the meeting. He adds, "Dr Mandaviya also told us that the number of seats for internships will be increased and more hospitals will be added to the list."
Last year, NMC increased the number of years of internship for FMGs who were awarded a degree after an online course. According to the council, these graduates do not have enough clinical practice and required an extra year of CMRI training to make up for the loss and familiarise them with the approach of medicine in the Indian settings. "A petition has also been filed with the Supreme Court, so, if the NMC does not roll back the new regulations, we are hopeful, the court verdict will be in our favour," says Shahroz Khan.