Doctor hails NMC’s relief for medical students hit by COVID, Russia-Ukraine war
30 July, 2022 | Vaishali Sharma
Doctors praised the decision to allow final-year medical students from epidemic and war-torn China and Ukraine to take the Foreign Medical Graduate Exam (FMGE), calling it a “positive gesture...
Doctors praised the decision to allow final-year medical students from epidemic and war-torn China and Ukraine to take the Foreign Medical Graduate Exam (FMGE), calling it a “positive gesture” because the students will gain clinical experience in India.
Speaking to ANI, Dr Anil Chandna, EC member of Dental Council of India and Member of Delhi State Dental Council said, “Good move for these students as a one-time measure. The internship program will be 2 years for them. They will get ample time to have clinical exposure to Indian conditions. But this will not be a precedent for next year.” Foreign Medical Graduate Exam (FMGE) is a screening test that foreign medical students have to clear to practise in the country.
Only students who have finished the courses and received a certificate of completion by June 30, 2022 would be eligible for this one-time waiver by the National Medical Commission, the country’s supreme organisation that regulates medical education.
The National Medical Commission (NMC) has offered significant assistance to students affected by the Russia-Ukraine war and COVID-19 by resolving to reduce the requirements for medical graduates who finished their MBBS course from foreign colleges without receiving clinical training.
“Indian students who were in the final year of their UG medicine course (due to COVID-19, Russia-Ukraine war returned to India) and have completed their studies and granted a certificate of completion of the course on or before June 30 will be permitted to appear in Foreign Medical Graduate Exam,” read NMC public notice.
After qualifying for the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination FMG exam these students are required to undergo the Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) exam for a period of 2 years, “Such FMG students are required to undergo compulsory rotating medical CRMI for a period of 2 years to make up for the clinical training which could not be physically attended by them during the undergraduate medicine course in the foreign country,” added the notice.
Earlier, the internship duration was one year but now this will be two years of clinical exposure.
According to Dr Anil Chandna, EC member Dental Council of India and Member Delhi State Dental Council, the one time measure is a good move. “In the internship program which will be 2 years for them, they will have ample time to have clinical exposure to Indian conditions. But this will not be a precedence for future years,” he said.
Earlier, ANI claimed that the Union Health Ministry is developing a plan to accommodate Russia-Ukraine-affected medical students so that they may complete their medical degrees in India. To find a solution, NMC and the Union Health Ministry held many rounds of discussions.
It is worth noting that more than 18,000 Indians were rescued from Ukraine as part of Operation Ganga.
76 planes were dispatched to Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Moldova as part of the federal government’s ‘Operation Ganga’ to rescue Indian residents stranded in Ukraine.
Over the last three decades, India has successfully evacuated its nationals in conflict zones through operations ranging from ‘Operation Sukoon’ through ‘Operation Safe Homecoming’ and ‘Operation Rahat.’