"They claim there are no seats, and these protests have become a yearly tradition for us Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs). We protest and then get a seat," said Dr Shubham Rathore, an FMG who passed the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) in 2024, but was unable to secure a seat for the Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) in his home state of Rajasthan.
On December 17, Tuesday, according to a post by the All FMGs Association (@official_afa_) on social media platform X, a cohort of students protested in front of the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) in Rajasthan's Jaipur on December 16.
The caption read, "Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) from Rajasthan are expressing their discontent regarding the limited number of internship seats. Approximately 400 FMGs were unable to secure a seat in Rajasthan this time due to lack of seats."
As many as 341 FMGs left with no clue
Additionally, on Monday, December 16, the FMGs addressed a letter to the Additional Director of DME Jaipur, stating that 341 FMGs in Rajasthan are still awaiting counselling for the CRMI seats, which the Rajasthan Medical Council (RMC) and the DM have allegedly "discontinued".
It further alleged that the state is responsible for allocating internship seats to students who have domiciles in their respective states.
The letter also stated that state medical councils are required to follow a directive from the National Medical Commission (NMC) to grant students from their state a seat for the CRMI.
However, only 578 out of 919 FMGs have been allocated a seat so far, leaving 341 doctors without the opportunity they deserve to progress in their careers.
More complications
Additionally, the FMG batch expressed concerns that this situation not only results in a significant delay in their career advancement but could also lead to further complications.
"The FMGE examination is scheduled for January 2025. As the new batch of FMGs begins their CRMIs in July 2025, this will add to the existing FMGs who were unable to secure an internship this time," the letter explained.
EdexLive reached out to the afflicted FMGs to learn more about the issue.
FMGs speak...
Dr Rathore completed his MBBS at Grigol Robakidze University in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2024, and subsequently passed the FMGE exam in July 2024.
He further highlighted the significant delay FMGs like himself are facing in securing internship seats.
Dr Rathore elaborated that state medical councils lack standardised procedures for admission. "First, we didn’t receive any seats, and now the DME and RMC are telling us we must complete a mandatory two-year internship even though many students who studied online have already completed a year of clinical rotation at their respective medical colleges before attempting the FMGE exam," he said.
Another FMG, Dr Kartikey Sahu from Rajasthan, who also passed the FMGE exam in 2024, and completed his MBBS from Weifang Medical University in China, is still waiting for a seat at a medical college for the CRMI. He told Edexlive that FMGs who failed to secure a seat have been approaching the RMC but have only been met with false promises.
"Under the jurisdiction of the Rajasthan Medical Council, there are 19 non-teaching hospitals, which indicates that there may be 1,900 vacant seats approximately, but still the RMC construes that there are not enough seats," he said.
Dr Sahu was part of the group that protested on December 16. "We locked the gates and demanded the authorities to provide us with answers, but none of them met us until the police arrived," he said.
Describing the events of the protest, he told Edexlive that the authorities informed them that seats would be allocated soon and that the matter was currently with the finance department, so they would have to wait for it. "Once again, we were met with an empty promise," he said, expressing his disappointment.
Official's response
To gain further clarification on the issue, EdexLive spoke with Dr Girdhar Gopal Goyal, the Registrar at RMC.
Dr Goyal informed EdexLive that seats have already been allocated to the FMGs who passed the FMGE in July 2024, based on a merit-cum-choice system.
When asked about the availability of additional seats at both new and old medical colleges, he responded, "Anyone claiming that there are available seats can send a written letter with the numbers, and I will look into it."
He also emphasised that it is a government order not to leave any seats vacant, and no official would risk doing so, keeping their job at stake.
Efforts still ongoing
Dr Vinod Bagra, President of the All Rajasthan MBBS Doctor's Association (ARMDA), stated that the association is working to support the dejected FMGs. "We met Iqbal Khan, Director of the DME, who asked us to give them seven days to work on the issue. We have agreed to wait for that period, after which we will intensify our protest and assert our demands more forcefully," he said.
