Foreign Medical Graduates in India, Medical associations and experts have welcomed the recent circular by the National Medical Commission (NMC) concerning the issue of the distribution of internship seats to FMGs.
In a recent announcement on Wednesday, May 10, the commission disclosed that certain recognised non-teaching hospitals will now have the opportunity to offer internships exclusively to Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) for a duration of one year. This temporary provision serves as a special exception for FMGs and will remain in effect until May 2024, as specified in the circular.
Additionally, the NMC has released an extensive list comprising more than 650 recognised non-teaching hospitals, qualifying them to facilitate the Clinical Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) for Foreign Medical graduates. The allocation of FMGs to these hospitals will be overseen by the respective state medical councils.
New move is welcome
Hailing the move, Dr Ashwini Dalmiya, Executive Member of Delhi Medical Council (DMC) and President, Delhi Medical Association (DMA), said, “One of the major reasons behind the lack of internship seats available for the FMGs was non-participation by these non-teaching hospitals. Now that this has been rectified, more internship seats will be available for the FMGs.”
Another issue that many state medical councils, including DMC, have highlighted in the past is that since NMC had mandated a stipend equivalent to Indian graduates to be given to the FMGs, many colleges and hospitals have pulled out their seats due to no budgetary provisions for the same.
However, in the new circular, NMC has mentioned that the amount of stipend to be paid to the interns is to be decided by the authority applicable to the respective state or university.
“The state medical councils have urged this multiple times that the stipend be made negotiable as many institutes and hospitals cannot afford to pay a stipend to the FMGs. States are aware of this and now that the NMC has notified the same, we will take necessary actions. Currently, we have not decided on what criteria the stipend and it will be discussed by our executive committee,” Dalmiya added.
FMGs in several states like Delhi, Rajasthan, Jammu, and Kashmir, have voiced out against the unavailability of seats for their Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) despite having to qualify for the screening examination.
“This is a good move by the NMC as the FMGs will now be able to secure internships in Indian Medical Colleges at least,” said M Teja Kumar, a foreign medical graduate from Andhra Pradesh, “I think that once the NMC has noticed the issue, the state medical councils will also implement the measures effectively.”
Most issues addressed
Recently, the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) also had a meeting with the NMC where the association raised concerns about FMG internships.
Dr Aviral Mathur, president of FORDA, said, “There were multiple issues and we feel that the majority of the issues that we raised at the meeting have been addressed by the NMC. We are thankful that they have been very prompt and very beckoning in their attitude about the suggestions that we made. On the other hand, this year has given a very good reality check for the students aspiring for foreign medical colleges since there are several issues that FMGs in India face.”
Moreover, the doctors added that the counselling process for the remaining number of FMGs should be started by respective state medical councils without delay.
“Since this list of hospitals across India has been released with more than 600 hospitals, we hope that all the FMGs get internships immediately since otherwise, it is a waste of manpower that someone who has passed the licensing exam is not getting an internship and ultimately cannot practice medicine,” said Dr Rohan Krishnan, Chairman of Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA).
