APMC clarifies FMG internship rules amid protests over NMC guidelines

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Medical Council (APMC) Chairman Dr Srihari Rao and Registrar Dr Ramesh explained the reasons behind permanent registration not being given to Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) in a press conference in Vijayawada on Friday, July 4.

The explanation was offered by APMC officials in light of recent protests by students against recently issued guidelines, as well as administrative actions among officials to rectify the issues at hand.

Students Who Continued Courses Abroad

The students who passed the Foreign Medical Graduate examination conducted in New Delhi in January 2023 were the first batch for whom counselling was conducted. Accordingly, allotments were offered in all medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh. This process was carried out as per the procedure prescribed by the National Medical Commission (NMC).

The FMGs who took their courses entirely offline in their country of choice and then came back to India due to extenuating circumstances like the COVID-19 outbreak or the Ukraine War returned and were allowed to finish their courses, as well as an internship for a year.

Meanwhile, those who returned to India and instead opted to finish their courses online and did not go back to their institutes abroad were required to do an internship of two years. 

New NMC guidelines

During the internship period of this second group of FMGs, the NMC issued new guidelines in November and December of 2023, stating that those who returned to India and resumed their courses through online mediums would be required to do two years of clerkship to make up for the clinical training they missed out on, as well as another year in internship to make up for the lack of offline training.

FMGs who studied online only in their final year would be subject to only one year of clerkship followed by a year of internship. As prescribed by the NMC, these guidelines had to be implemented.

AP High Court ruling

After the same was communicated to students (many of whom continued with their second year), some did not want to do another year of clerkship. They accordingly approached the Andhra Pradesh High Court, seeking relief.

The AP HC ruled that all guidelines must be followed as prescribed by the NMC. Most petitioners resumed their studies, while one filed an appeal to the bench.

Before the HC judgement for the appeal could be released, the students began to protest.

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On July 1, AP Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav met the protesting students during Doctors’ Day festivities at the Dr NTR University of Health Sciences.

Having heard their complaints, Yadav assured them that he would bring up their concerns with the APMC to help address their grievances.

Yadav called for a meeting immediately on July 2 to address the same and sent the APMC chairman and registrar to Delhi to represent the FMGs’ concerns in front of the NMC.

The students, meanwhile, continued their agitation despite all the efforts being made by authorities.

Plea to cease protests

APMC officials at the conference claimed that the compensation certificate submitted by the majority of students does not justify their period of online study with offline study. These FMGs who approached the NMC with their compensation certificate were instructed to do 2 years of internship.

Encouraging students to keep the law-and-order situation in check, APMC officials requested students to stop unnecessary protests and agitations, considering the matter is being raised to the relevant authorities. Rao and Dr Ramesh further mentioned that the AP HC ruling is set to clarify many queries students have, and as such, there is no further need for agitation.

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