As many as 370 foreign medical graduates (FMGs) in Rajasthan were not allotted internships despite having cleared the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) this year.
The first merit list allotting internships to foreign medical graduates (FMGs) was released by the Rajasthan Medical Council, on May 9, as per which, 370 out of the total 1,136 qualified candidates were left out.
“Almost 400 domicile students, who have qualified the FMGE exam are not being allocated an internship. We have no other option now. Students who are not able to get internships might try in other states. We are waiting for other state medical councils like Delhi, and so on, to release their merit lists,” expressed Dr Jitendra Baghel, a foreign medical graduate from Rajasthan.
Not a new issue
Last year as well, the Foreign Medical Graduates in Rajasthan faced a similar situation. Even though 1,365 students qualified the FMGE 2023 exam, counselling was done only for 399 seats. Similar issues were also reported last year from other parts of the country.
Responding to the issue last year, the National Medical Commission (NMC) allowed a one-time relaxation, permitting 650 plus recognised non-teaching hospitals across the country to conduct internships for Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) only for a period of one year.
In a circular released on May 9, 2023, the NMC said, “After careful consideration of the situation and issue faced by the FMGs in order to explore seats to complete their internship, it is decided by UGMEB to validate the list of Recognized Non-teaching Hospitals for CRMI issued by the erstwhile Medical Council of India, for a period of one year from the issue of this circular i.e., up to May 2024, for the conduct of internship for Foreign Medical Graduates only.”
However, it seems that the issue has surfaced once again this year due to a shortage of internship seats available for foreign medical graduates as compared to the number of qualified candidates.
Assessing the situation this year, the Delhi Medical Council (DMC) has written to the NMC, urging for a similar relaxation this year to accommodate a large number of applicants for the FMG internships.
“Subsequent to the Foreign Medical Graduate Exam (FMGE) result declared in February, 2024, by National Board of Examinations, 230 individuals belonging to Delhi (having the passport & Aadhar Card of Delhi) applied to start the internship in various medical college/institutions in Delhi. It is stated that more than 1000 students are desirous of starting internship in Delhi but we called the applications only from Delhi Domicile individuals,” said the letter by DMC addressed to the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of NMC dated April 10, 2024.
“Further, as per the information received from various medical colleges/institutions in Delhi, there are only 60 seats available in the current scenario for being allotted for internship training. By seeing the number of seats and number of applications received we will not be able to provide internship even to FMGE belonging to Delhi,” DMC added.
Protests ahead…
Now, to highlight their concerns regarding the shortage of internship seats in the state, the students are planning a protest at the Rajasthan Medical Commission office in Jaipur on Monday, May 13.
“I am from Bharatpur and I am going to Jaipur today to speak to the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) regarding our concerns and protest for our cause along with 80-90 other qualified FMGs who did not get a seat this year. We are garnering support from local MLAs to raise our concerns,” spoke Dr Ravi Faujdaar, another FMG from Rajasthan.
