Giving a ray of hope to Ukraine-returned medical students, the Union Health Ministry and the National Medical Commission are exploring the possibility of relaxing provisions of the NMC (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, 2021, or finding alternatives to enable them to complete their courses in private colleges in India or abroad.
The Indian students fleeing the war-torn country are facing a huge dilemma regarding their future.
A senior official from the Union Health Ministry said that officials from NMC, Health Ministry, MEA, and NITI Aayog will soon hold important meetings and the issue will be reviewed on humanitarian grounds and looked at sympathetically. Though, it will not be an easy affair given the limited seats and infrastructure in India. According to the official, the situation can be more confusing for fifth or final-year MBBS students as they require clinical training.
As per the provisions of the National Medical Commission (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, 2021, the entire course, training and internship, or clerkship shall be done outside India in the same foreign medical institution throughout the course of study.
The provisions also state that no part of medical training and internship shall be done in India or in any country other than the one from where the primary medical qualification is obtained.
An official source said presently there are no norms under the National Medical Commission Regulations to accommodate medical students, who were studying abroad and had to return to India midway, in Indian medical colleges in between an academic session.
“However, keeping in view such extraordinary situations, the issue will be reviewed on humanitarian grounds and looked at sympathetically,” the source said.