An association of Foreign Medical Graduate (FMG) students, the All FMGs Association (AFA), met with the National Medical Commission (NMC) on Tuesday, February 6, in order to discuss several issues pertaining to the FMGs in India.

Representatives from the association met with Dr Yogender Malik, Member of the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) and Head of the Media Division at the NMC on Tuesday. The official assured the students that they would address their problems. 

The primary issue put forward by the association was the misinterpretation of NMC guidelines for the FMGs by different state medical councils.

“Many states are manipulating the rules set up by the commission. NMC has clear-cut guidelines regarding the stipend, internship, and so on. Still, many states are not giving the stipend. The duration of internship that a student has to do has also been misinterpreted by several states despite clear criteria set up by the NMC,” a member of the All FMGs Association (AFA) said, on the condition of anonymity. 

The NMC released a notice in July 2022 mentioning that Indian students who were in the last year of their undergraduate (UG) medicine course and have completed the final year online, on or before June 30, 2022, will be eligible for registration only after completing the Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) for two years.

Students highlighted that though these guidelines are for a specific section of students clearly specified by the NMC, many states have been forcing all the students to go for two years of compulsory internship.

“However, we did not receive any solution to these problems. Dr Malik said that the commission will try to ensure that their guidelines are not wrongfully implemented,” the association further told EdexLive.

The association also met with officials of the Delhi Medical Association (DMA) on Sunday, February 4, to discuss these concerns.