Tamil Nadu’s foreign medical graduates (FMGs), especially those who graduated from institutions in China and the Philippines in 2016-2021 batch, are stuck in a limbo as they await official sanction to begin their Compulsory Rotatory Residential Internship (CRRI) in the State, after almost a year of passing the Indian eligibility exam.
“I chose to study medicine in China because the fees were affordable, and the curriculum is similar to that of India. I had to return home to Tiruchi in 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdown, and attended three semesters online. Though I completed the course, got a provisional MBBS degree and even cleared the Foreign Medical Graduate Eligibility exam in December 2022 in India, I am yet to get permission to do my CRRI in Tamil Nadu,” Maria*, 25, told The Hindu. Ms. Maria is among the estimated 100-150 FMGs who have been affected in Tamil Nadu, even as medical councils in other States like Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal and Telangana have taken steps to accommodate such candidates.
Unable to get placed without the requisite paperwork, Ms. Maria said she found a temporary honorary job in a private hospital. “We have to pay a fee of ₹2,500 to the hospital in order to get a service certificate at the end, though we are not being paid. Some of my friends have gone to Jharkhand for their internship,” she said.
“Even if we are in a position to return to our universities, we cannot compensate for the months of online learning, because we have already graduated,” said Suresh*, who studied in the Philippines. “We are so fed up of waiting for permission from Tamil Nadu, that many of my batch mates have gone to other States. But as slots get filled, the State governments tend to favour students in their domicile,” he said.
When contacted, a senior Tamil Nadu Health Department official said that the National Medical Commission had allowed FMGs from Russian and Ukrainian universities, affected by war since 2022, to do their CRRI in India on a conditional basis. “Those who returned to Russia or Ukraine to complete their course offline, can do one year’s internship in India. If they are not going back, they have to do it for two years. We have clarified this and told the Tamil Nadu Medical Council to permit them.”
However the official said that the NMC had yet to state its position on the medical graduates from China and the Philippines. “Regarding China and other places, we have got NMC guidelines that final-year students who have done up to one year of online study, can be given CRRI. But if they have done more than 15 months of online study, a Supreme Court judgement suggests a special test to be conducted by the NMC. Those who pass it will be deemed eligible for internship. We have asked the NMC to set a date for the special test, and further clarifications in case it is not going to hold one,” he said.
*Names have been changed on request.
