The National Medical Commission (Undergraduate Medical Education Board) has provided some relief to Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) completing their Compulsory Rotatory Medical Internship (CRMI) in India. 

In a notice issued today, Thursday, January 5, the NMC said that CRMIs being pursued from institutes recognised under the old Medical Council of India list will be valid as a one-time measure. This applies to students who began their internship in these colleges on or before October 21, 2022. 

Why is that date crucial?
In November, FMGs protested at the NMC office in New Delhi against a couple of decisions made by the NMC regarding CRMIs for FMGs. Students who received their UG course completion certificates on or before June 30, 2022, would have to complete two years of internship instead of the usual one year. This was to make up for the loss of clinical training for these students due to the pandemic, the NMC reasoned. 

Secondly, the NMC, in November 2021 had informed students they can only pursue their CRMIs from the colleges recognised under the NMC's list and not as per its predecessor MCI's list. While the NMC claimed that list was released to the state medical councils in July this year, students countered that they were still not aware of the particulars of this list. Finally, on October 21, 2022, the NMC released the list for the students and reiterated that internships must only be taken in the colleges on that list. This left students who had enrolled into colleges as per the old MCI list stranded. 

What does the NMC say now?
In its notice today, January 5, the NMC said that the measure to provide a one-time relaxation for students who had taken CRMIs in institutions as per the old MCI list was provided after it received "numerous representations and requests" from students in this matter. The NMC said that the issue was considered in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, where it was decided to validate the internships of students as per the old MCI list, before October 21, 2022.