With the norms of the National Medical Commission (Foreign Medical Graduate Licenti ate) Regulations 2021 coming to the fore, foreign medical graduates (FMGs) need to fol low certain strictures to practise on native soil. Evidently the norms will apply only to Indian students who have gone abroad to study MBBS after November 18, 2021 (which is when the Regulations came into force) and going by their numbers (of nearly 8,000 to 10,000 each year) to some of the countries where medical education is pocket-friendly, the students may need to rethink their options. As per the Regulations, the entire course, training and internship or clerkship has to be done outside India, in the same medical foreign medical institution throughout the course of study and no part of medical training and internship can be done in any other country other than the country from where the primary education is being obtained. This raises questions on the fate of the Ukraine-returned MBBS students who are forced to stay on in India and seek options both within and outside the country. "The government and regulatory bodies may take a call in providing appropriate training in such extraordinary circumstances, even if it means accommoda- ting the students either in India or abroad, provided the in- stitutions under consideration, have adequate seats and it does not alter the quality of medical education," says Dr Pawanindra Lal, director professor & HOD, Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), New Delhi. Considering the NMC Regulation also emphasises that an FMG can practice in India only when he/she is registered with the respective professional regulatory body of the country from where he/ she has obtained the degree, Dr Lal says, the decision is justifiable. "Wherever a student goes for MBBS, the student should get a degree that should enable him/her to practise in that country. If that is lacking, the country may shrug off the responsibility of producing a good quality doctor."
Lal explains further, "If students come to India with a view to practise and appear for National Exit Exam (NEXT) or any other mandated test/s by NMC, it is because India is their home country, and the countries where they go to study have agreed to provide medical education and nothing beyond it. The Regulations are a means to provide a reality check on the quality of training overseas." Manoj Andley, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, concurs. "The Indian medical students are exposed to patient care, get a feel of how treatment is conducted, watch the irseniors make diagnosis and prescribe treatments as they are rotated through various wards and departments, right from out-patient clinics to operation theatres. The FMGs are expected to have similar type of exposure," Andley says elaborating there is no harm in encouraging more students te join the medical profession, a long as the quality of medica education and doctors is no compromised.
Published on :- Times of India
Date :- 11/04/2022
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