NMC Quashes Hopes Of Indian Students With Foreign Medical Degrees To Practise In India

Indian students, who have gone abroad after November 18, 2021, to study medical education, might not get a licence to practice in India upon their return. New norms framed by the Indian medical education regulator National Medial Commission (NMC) debars them from appearing in the Exit Exam and practice medicine here.

These norms come with certain conditions that are almost impossible to fulfill by any Indian citizen with a foreign degree. For instance, one of the conditions says that a foreign graduate 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.

Legal and health experts say that no country will allow such a registration even if the candidate has obtained a valid degree because it involves a work visa as well. They say that if a handful of candidates get a work visa and the required registration with the respective regulatory body in the foreign country, why will they come to India?

“After getting registration to practice in another country, if the candidate comes to India, he will have to first clear the National Exit Exam and then will he get a licence to practice in India,” Likhitha Yanmandala, a medical student, who has challenged these norms in the Delhi High Court said.  

He added, “When India doesn’t allow foreigners permanent registration and right to practice in the country even if they do their MBBS from here, why will other countries do so?”

There was no such condition earlier when the erstwhile regulator Medical Council of India (MCI) used to regulate foreign graduates. They only used to see if a candidate has a valid foreign degree or not. The MCI was replaced by NMC on September 24, 2020.

After coming into existence, the NMC framed the National Medical Commission (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, 2021 and enforced it from November 18. 2021. These Regulations impose certain new conditions for the first time for those students who go abroad to do undergraduate medical courses equivalent to MBBS in India.

Other conditions, that health and legal experts find unusual, are the duration of the course and the medium of instructions. The Regulation says that the duration of the course should not be less than 54 months and the medium of instruction should only be English.

These conditions prohibit degree holders from Russia, China, Ukraine, Kazakistan, etc. to come back and practice in India because in all these countries the medium of instruction is their own native language rather than English.

“Very few colleges in these countries offer courses in English. Students, who come to India to study here, take language crash courses for a few months,” a student studying in Russia said.  

Countries like the Philippines which has English as a medium of instruction, don’t have 54 months of undergraduate courses as they teach in two parts – BS Biology and MD. The NMC has recently clarified that it will not recognise BS Biology.

“Among all these conditions, the biggest stumbling block is the one which mandates Indian doctors with foreign degrees to get registered with the regulatory or the competent bodies of those countries from where the degrees have been awarded,” a health expert associated with  MCI said.

He said that after November 18, 2021, thousands of students have already gone abroad to study medicine -- every year between 8,000 and 10,000 students go to countries like the Philippines, Bangladesh, Georgia, Nepal, Ukraine, Armenia, Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan among others -- to pursue their medical dream.

Though the new regulations came into force more than four months ago, the majority of students and their parents are still not aware of the impact on their careers.

Now as they gradually understand the aftermath of such rules, their hopes  are pinned on the Delhi High Court to pass a favourable judgement else their career and hard-earned money will go to waste.

Yanmandala has demanded that these regulations should be quashed because the NMC Act has no such provisions and the NMC is imposing conditions beyond the mandate given to it under the Act.

He argues that MCI had recognised the medical education given in foreign medical universities and also prescribe qualifications for taking admission to such foreign medical universities but it had never imposed such ‘obnoxious’ conditions.

“Earlier, a candidate used to take eligibility certificate from MCI to study in foreign universities and after completing the course, the candidate used to come back to India and pass a screening test to become a doctor. The MCI also had a list of countries, universities and colleges where valid medical education is being offered. This acts as a safeguard for students going abroad,” he said.

After the Delhi High Court issued a notice to NMC on Yanmandala’s petition, the NMC has defended its regulations and said that the purpose of these conditions is to maintain the highest standards of medical education along with ensuring that the best teaching/training is provided to candidates proceeding to Foreign Medical Institutes “so that they could return to the country and provide outstanding medical treatment lo the public at large.”

“The intent behind the same being that candidates obtaining graduate medical qualifications from foreign medical institutes, shall finally practice medicine in India, thus, must obtain a minimum standard of knowledge/competence which is expected to be achieved by a candidate undergoing MBBS course in India. This is for the sake of maintaining uniform standard of medical practice in India,” the NMC has said.