What NMC Gazette means

The National Medical Commission recently issued a notification regarding the new regulation for students wanting to study medicine abroad. This has left many confused on whether to pursue medical from foreign universitues. Vishu Tripathi decodes the gazette

Every year thousands of medical students fly to another country to study MBBS. The main reason behind choosing a study destination is fee affordability and international working opportunities. After the notification issued by the National Medical Commission on November 18, 2021, many students are in confusion regarding this new regulation.

Studying MBBS abroad is like a boon to medical students who struggle to get MBBS admission in India. The seats are limited and not all students manage to get medical seats in the colleges in the country. That’s why they choose to study MBBS outside the country. After new rules for foreign medical graduates, they are worried about their future.

Key Points

In the 40-plus pages of the National Medical Commission Regulation, several rules are covered for abroad-going medical students. It includes the mandatory duration of MBBS or equivalent course, internship information, NExT Exam update, and other important rules that students will follow.

• 54 Months Duration Mandatory Slab: According to the NMC gazette 2021, only those MBBS degrees will be valid in India that have 54 months course duration. Many foreign medical universities of Russia, Ukraine, China, and other nations fall under this criteria. On the other hand, the Philippines offers an MD course (equivalent to MBBS programme), and the course is 48 months.
• 12 Months Mandatory Internship: It is compulsory that students have to do a 12 months mandatory internship in India, It will help students to work according to the Indian healthcare system.
• English Medium Study: MBBS degree of those medical universities will be valid in India that offer MBBS courses in English.
• National Exit Test is compulsory for medical graduates: It was proposed that National Exit Test will be the common exit test for final year MBBS students. Now, after this notification, every medical student has to pass this test. It is the only condition to validate their medical degree in India. Also, after this NExT exam, they will get a medical practice degree.
• Not applicable to old students: According to the NMC regulation, this gazette and its rule will apply to those students who will get admission after 18 November 2021. It means this rule won’t affect those students who are already studying in foreign medical universities. So, those students can go with their regular duration and can practice in India, when they will pass the medical licensing exam.

Affected Countries

The most affected country by this law is the Philippines. Medical universities of the country offer 48 months MD courses and according to this law, their medical degree won’t be valid. Earlier, students were allowed to pursue MD after completing their pre-medicine.

Now, students who had plans to study MBBS in the Philippines are eager to know the update regarding this. The Indian Embassy of Manila has made it clear that BS (the pre-med course) is not part of the MBBS programme.

 Apart from this, Kyrgyzstan is another country that is affected by this rule but the Indian Embassy made clear that the MBBS degree of Kyrgyzstan is valid.

What Next?

The big question is what should be the best decision for an Indian medical student after this rule. It is expected that small economy countries like the Philippines and other nations will increase their course duration. Most of the universities are autonomous so they are allowed to extend the duration of the MD course.

Once they fall in the 54 months category then their degree will be valid in India. The Indian Embassy of Manila has got so many queries regarding this and they sent all the queries to the National Medical Commission for further updates.

On the other hand, several medical organisations including FMAI have opposed this rule. According to them, these rules are a road blocker for middle-class medical students. Altogether, it may be possible that the National Medical Commission will come up with an update regarding this, or will offer a mid-way to validate medical degrees.

Advice to students

Experienced education advisors of this field are worried due to this rule. There is a lot more confusion regarding this. Many videos are being uploaded on the Internet with twisting the facts and technicalities of the new NMC gazette. It is advised that before choosing any country to study MBBS abroad, you should study the gazette. It will help you to get a clear picture of this.

The writer is CEO& Founder, Affinity Education