NMC releases new draft regulations for foreign medical graduates

NMC has released new draft regulations containing eligibility criteria for those who want to practice in India. A person intending to practice in India after obtaining primary Medical qualifications has to qualify FMGE until the NExT becomes operational, the draft says. Read to know more.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has released the draft regulations for Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs). As per the official notification, FMGs draft regulations have been available on the official website of NMC for comments under Section 57. The new draft regulations contain the details regarding the eligibility criteria for licensing those who wish to practice medicine in India. A person intending to practice in India after obtaining primary Medical qualifications has to qualify the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) until the National Exit Test (NExT) becomes operational, the new draft regulations said.

National Exit Test (NExT)

The notification said that NExT examination will be merged with FMGE. NExT examination will consist of NExT Step 1 and NExT Step 2. For FMGs, the first step will include an additional paper to assess the knowledge of pre and para-clinical subjects. The foreign medical graduates will have to qualify FMGE/NexT within two years of completing the MBBS abroad.

Eligibility criteria to practice in India

As per the draft guidelines released by NMC, eligibility criteria for practicing medicine in India have been divided into two parts. The first part is applicable to those candidates who have completed Class 12 from India and pursuing MBBS from abroad. These candidates must have passed class 12th from any recognised board in India with minimum eligible marks. They must have physics, chemistry, biology, or biotechnology as their core subjects. These candidates must have qualified the NEET 2021 exam for seeking admission abroad.

Eligibility criteria are different for the second group of candidates who have completed both class 12th and MBBS degree from abroad. These candidates must have completed minimum of 12 years of schooling with physics, chemistry, biology or biotechnology and English as their core subjects.  Such candidates must have completed at least the first year of graduation in science with subjects like physics, chemistry, biology or biotechnology. Another criteria is they must have completed 54 months of undergraduate medical training along with 12 months of internship in the same country, where the medical qualification was awarded. The MBBS degree must have been done in English medium. The entire undergraduate medical education must have been done in the same institution and in the same country outside India. Even the internship must have been done in the same country. The license to practise medicine shall be valid for at least 10 years.

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