New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has issued a notice to the Union Health Ministry and the National Medical Commission (NMC) seeking their response over a plea challenging the latter's stipulation making a two-year internship mandatory for foreign medical graduates with retrospective effect.
A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and Vikram Nath posted the hearing for January 25. The plea will be heard along with petitions filed by Indian students who could not complete their medical studies in Ukraine and China following the war and COVID-19 pandemic, said the court.
NMC had introduced the two-year internship on April 2 last year for medical students from Ukraine and China who returned to India without completing their clinical training abroad.
However, the same condition on internship was applied with retrospective effective also to students who had come to India without completing their clinical trial in foreign institutions, but had secured registration to practise in India after clearing the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE).
The FMGE enables those who pursued MBBS abroad to practise in India. The next FMGE is scheduled for January 20.