A group of Philippines-returned medical graduates are being denied the Eligibility certificates required to appear for the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) to practise medicine in India or pursue postgraduate (PG) medical degrees.
The issue started in 2018, when the Medical Commission of India (MCI), which is the predecessor of the National Medical Commission (NMC), introduced amendments to the ‘Screening Test Regulations, 2002’ and also in ‘Eligibility Requirement for taking Admission in an undergraduate medical course in a Foreign Medical Institution Regulation, 2002’, making it a requirement for the Indian FMGs to qualify National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).
Dr Apurva Dalvi, National Convenor, All India Medical Students Association-Foreign Medical Students Wing (AIMSA- FMG Wing), told Edex Live, “There is a group of students from different universities in the Philippines who reached out to the FMG wing of AIMSA as they are being denied eligibility certificates, despite an exemption by the health ministry as well as the Delhi high court order. They are citing a 2018 notification by the MCI, which has now been replaced by NMC as a reason.”
Background
The Philippines medical course structure consists of two parts — Bachelor of Science (BS), which is equivalent to a pre-medical course in the USA and Doctor of Medicine (MD), equivalent to MBBS.
When the MCI published notification for eligibility criteria in 2018, some students who had been admitted in 2017 and were pursuing their pre-medical course in the country were met by confusion.
“We took admission and started our pre-medical course in the Philippines in 2017. During that time, we were considered eligible as per MCI. However, In 2018, they released a notification saying that when we take admission in a medical course after BS, we would have to appear for NEET examination,” explained Nikita Kute, a foreign medical graduate from the Philippines' institute.
The students in the Philippines were being asked to obtain a NEET 2018 or 2019 certificate as their medical degree started in 2019, two years after being admitted into the BS (Pre-medical) course.
However, after a few parents approached the Delhi High Court, the court passed an order exempting the students who left India before May 31, 2018, from the MCI notification.
“Now, after graduating this year, when we approached the NMC for an eligibility certificate which is required to appear for the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination, they did not issue the same stating that we should present NEET 2018 or 2019 qualification,” Nikita added.
Resolution expected
A group of Philippines-returned students and delegates from the AIMSA- FMG wing met with the Nation Commission for Backward Classes Chairman Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, along with officials from NMC and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
“They have assured us that the issue will be resolved before October 10, 2023. We are still unsure about the situation as we need to appear for FMGE in December 2023 and need the certificates beforehand,” said Dr Nikita Kute.
