Medical students returning due to Russia-Ukraine conflict conditionally allowed to appear in FMG Exam: Govt

New Delhi: Medical students, returning home due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, are permitted to appear in Foreign Medical Graduate Examination subject to the condition that they have been granted certificate of course completion by their respective institute, the Parliament was told on Tuesday.

"The National Medical Commission (NMC) has devised a scheme under which Indian students, who were in the final year of their undergraduate medicine course, had to leave their foreign medical institute due to Covid-19, Russia-Ukraine conflict etc. and have subsequently completed their studies as also have been granted certificate of completion of course or degree by the respective institute, on or before June 30, 2022, are permitted to appear in Foreign Medical Graduate Examination," Minister of State for Health Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

"Thereafter, upon qualifying the FMG examination, such foreign medical graduates are required to undergo Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) for a period of two years to make up for the clinical training which could not be physically attended by them during the undergraduate medicine course in the foreign institute as also to familiarise them with practice of medicine under Indian conditions. Foreign medical graduates get registration only after completing the CRMI of two years," she added.

Dr Pawar informed the house that the foreign medical students are either covered under `Screening Test Regulations, 2002` or `Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations, 2021`.

However, there are no such provisions in the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 & the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 as well as the Regulations to accommodate or transfer medical students from any foreign medical institutes to Indian medical colleges, she said.

Pawar also said that no permission has been given by the NMC to transfer or accommodate any foreign medical students in any Indian medical institute or university. As per information received from MEA, the Indian Embassy in Kyiv has communicated with all the universities concerned in Ukraine for providing the transcript and other documents in a smooth manner to the students. The details are available on the website of the Embassy to assist students to address any related issues, she added.

The NMC has also issued public notices conveying its no-objection to the Academic Mobility Programme offered by Ukraine i.e., temporary relocation (for the period of conflict) to other universities applicable in either of 29 countries as mentioned in the notice, Dr Pawar said.