The Indian embassy said in a statement on Monday that any Indian student who entered a medical school in China after November 2021 but did not receive a licence to practise medicine here at the end of the course would not be permitted to sit for the required Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) in India.
The embassy cited a national medical commission (NMC) official announcement from November 2021 when it stated that medical students studying abroad should have a licence to practise medicine in the nation from which they received their degree.
The NMC has “unambiguously” stated that foreign medical students must be “registered with the respective professional regulatory body or otherwise, competent to grant licence to practise medicine in their respective jurisdiction of the country in which the medical degree is awarded and at par with the licence to practise medicine given to citizen of that country,” according to the embassy statement.
The statement continued by saying that Indian officials had instructed both the Chinese government and universities to make sure that all Indian students travelling to China for clinical medicine programmes received the necessary instruction, training, and support to enable them to meet NMC standards.
Any student who enrols in a clinical medicine programme in China after November 2021 and is unable to secure a licence to practise medicine there will be disqualified from taking the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination, according to the statement.The embassy claimed that it has also asked the Chinese government if Indian students who have completed their medical study but are awaiting licensure can work in Chinese hospitals as a “assistant doctor.”
The Embassy has formally contacted the appropriate Chinese authorities to inquire about the availability of such a choice. When the Embassy receives information from the Chinese side, it will post it to its social media accounts, the statement continued.
In September, New Delhi warned potential students considering enrolling in clinical medicine programmes at Chinese universities to be aware of “common” difficulties, such as the standard of English-language instruction, the lack of opportunities for practical experience, and the low passing rate of graduates in India’s mandatory FMGE.
The warning was given as thousands of Indian students enrolled in Chinese medical schools are currently stranded at home for more than 2.5 years as a result of Beijing’s Covid-19-related travel restrictions.
In recent months, hardly 100 Indian students have come back to China to restart their studies at Chinese universities.Since there are now no direct flights between India and China, the students returned to China via third nations.
Over 23,000 Indian students, mostly medical students, are currently enrolled in various Chinese universities, according to official figures. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the numbers had increased during the previous ten years.
