Despite the National Medical Commission (NMC) introducing a one-time relaxation for Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) to address the issue of low seat availability for internships, FMGs in most states are still uncertain about their future.
On May 9, the NMC released a circular announcing that a few recognised non-teaching hospitals will now be allowed to conduct Compulsory Rotating Medical Internships (CRMIs) for Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) only for a period of one year till May 2024.
The NMC added that the allocation of these seats will be done by the state medical councils.
The Delhi Medical Council (DMC) has already released a list of updated seats available for FMG internships. However, because of a one-year limit to the relaxation, other state medical councils also need to start the counselling process within 10 days to ensure a one-year internship for the students.
Dr Ashwini Dalmiya, Executive Member of Delhi Medical Council (DMC) and President, Delhi Medical Association (DMA), explained “Although a date has not been specified by the NMC, it is understood that the relaxation is valid till May 31, 2024. If they are not able to complete their one-year internship by that date, this relaxation will be of no benefit to the students.”
Dalmiya added that all the state councils need to allocate the seats before May 31 this year to ensure that the students can complete their internship on time.
Students say…
Students share that since few state medical councils verify the candidates’ provisional certificates before starting the counselling process, the process is being delayed.
Aswathy Sunilkumar, a foreign medical graduate from Kerala explained, “The major issue is that the Kerala State Medical Council is delaying our provisional registration. For years, the procedure has been that only after obtaining provisional certificates and verification, one can be allocated an internship. Students wait for more than six months sometimes to get this registration number and then again, for another four to five months for allocation.”
“Now, due to the NMC circular, we are requesting them to either make the process of registration faster or else, the relaxation given by NMC would not benefit us,” Aswathy added.
This situation is not just limited to Kerala. State medical councils in Uttar Pradesh and other states also follow the same procedure for FMG internships.
Zeenat Mahtab, an FMG from Uttar Pradesh, said that she has been waiting for nearly two months for the verification process of her provisional certificate.
“There is no confirmation from the UP medical council about the seat allocation. A few students tried to reach out to the registrar regarding the issue and were informed by the council that the process might start as late as July. Since the pass percentage for FMGE was high this year, there are more than 1000 FMGs in the state. It is not possible to accommodate all these students in medical colleges. That is why, the new relaxation by NMC that allows hospitals to facilitate internships is needed in the state,” Zeenat said.
Students in Uttar Pradesh have written an email to the registrar of the UP state medical council and the health minister of the state. They informed that they will be meeting the registrar at his office on Wednesday, May 31 if the issue is not addressed.
