Medical graduates from countries other than China, who are currently undergoing internship, are complaining that they have been burdened with an additional year of internship because of misinterpretation of the Supreme Court rules.
The Supreme Court ruled that the students who did online classes must do two years of internship instead of one year. Students who returned from China, owing to COVID-19 pandemic, could not return to their country to complete their studies. Similarly, due to the Russia-Ukraine war, hundreds of students had to return early.
They claimed that the verdict was for students who returned from China, where the course work is only for 4.5 years and they must do a year-long internship to qualify, she said, adding, “We do six years of theory and have to take the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination(FMGE), besides a year of internship. We got internship after a wait of 11 months. It is now seven years.” Medical students who completed undergraduate course from any other country must qualify in the FMGE after which they must do internship in India.
The graduates say their plans to pursue higher education are further delayed. “We reworked the online classes and also took the final exams offline. The two year internship is putting an extra burden on us. Internship is a draining process and we have to work continuously sometimes from 24-48 hours,” pointed out a student.
As many as 87 affected students have explained their position to the National Medical Commission. A parent said they have sent three representations to the NMC but have received no relief yet. The students had earlier represented to the Tamil Nadu Medical Council which directed them to approach the NMC.
