Confusion was created recently among Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) regarding the affiliation of a medical university in Kyrgyzstan, points out Dr Armaan Bhupendra Chourasiya, President, of IFMS (Indian Foreign Medical Student) Welfare MCI Gurukul Trust. To avoid such incidents, he says that students who wish to pursue medical education abroad must be aware of the NMC (National Medical Commission) guidelines.
Dr Armaan's Trust looks after the welfare of FMGs. "When MCI (Medical Council of India) was in place, it had listed out the names of the recognised universities along with the countries they are situated on its website. However, as the NMC came to function in its place in 2019, the rule changed," he said.
"It is important to know that the NMC does not provide any list of colleges for Indian students to take admission in a medical university abroad and neither does it give direct recognition to any university, but has in place a set of guidelines for a student to be recognised as an FMG in India," Dr Armaan explained. "It is mandatory for a student to follow these guidelines," he added.
The guidelines are mentioned in a gazetted notification (the Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations) published by the NMC in 2021. According to the document, if a student satisfies four principal criteria, he/she is recognised as an FMG, eligible to appear for the National Exit Test (NExT) or other such mandated exams, in order to practice in India.
These are the criteria:
1. The medium of instruction of the medical course pursued by the student should be English.
2. The medical course pursued should be at least 54 months, as in India
3. After MBBS, it is mandatory for a student to complete 12 months of internship in the same foreign medical university/hospital
4. After completion of MBBS, a student must be registered as a medical doctor in that country
"Whichever college follows these four rules or has registration in that country or is recognised by WHO, then Indian students can take admission in such foreign universities. After that, they can come to India and pass the NExT exam like other students," Dr Armaan stated.
What was the Kyrgyzstan university case?
A letter in circulation on the web stated that the Avicenna International Medical University in Kyrgyzstan was directly recognised by the NMC. On November 28, NMC countered that the letter was fake. This led to a confusion that the university is not approved by the NMC. "Many Indian students study there, and panicked, they contacted me," Dr Armaan said.
However, he clarified that the university is approved by the Ministry of Health, Kyrgyzstan. And the same has been communicated to the NMC through a letter dated March 25 this year from the Kyrgyzstan Health Ministry.
