FMGE protest called off as NBEMS agrees to extra exam in October

A protest by Indian foreign medical graduates was called off on Thursday after the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences agreed to conduct an additional Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) by the end of October, sources said

A meeting between the representatives of the protesting medical graduates and officials of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) was held at the latter’s office in Dwarka on Thursday, during which it was also agreed that from next year, FMGE would be conducted three times a year – in December/January, April/May and August/September, the sources said citing the miniutes of the meeting.

FMGE is one of the mandatory requirements for an Indian citizen who has a medical degree from outside India to practise medicine in the country.

The protesters were represented at the meeting by the members of the Association of Indian Medical Students Association-Foreign Medical Students and Graduates (AIMSA-FMSW), during which issues faced by the medical graduates in the FMGE held in June 2026 were discussed. According to the minutes of the meeting, the NBEMS agreed to conduct an additional FMGE for Indian foreign medical graduates by the end of October 2026.

The meeting also discussed the difficulty level of the examination.

According to the minutes, the question paper would be rationalised by increasing the number of questions in the ‘low’ and ‘moderate’ difficulty categories.

The proportion of ‘low’, ‘moderate’ and ‘difficult’ questions would be 30:50:20, respectively, they said.

The exam fee would also be reduced from the next round of examination, according to the minutes.