Beijing: Any Indian student who joined a medical university in China after November 2021 but fails to obtain a licence to practise as a doctor at the end of the medicine course here will not be allowed to appear for the mandatory Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) in India, the Indian embassy said in a statement on Monday.
Citing an official notification issued by the national medical commission (NMC) in November, 2021, the embassy said medical students studying abroad should have the licence to practise medicine in the country from where they have obtained the degree.
The NMC, according to the embassy statement, 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”.
The statement added that Indian officials have told both the Chinese government as well as universities that they should ensure that all Indian students coming to China for clinical medicine programme are educated, trained and facilitated so that they can fulfil the requirements of the NMC.
“Any student, who joins for clinical medicine programme in China after November 2021 and fails to obtain licence to practise as a medical doctor in China, will be rendered ineligible to appear for Foreign Medical Graduate Examination,” the statement said.
The embassy said it has also asked the Chinese government whether Indian students can work in Chinese hospitals as an “assistant doctor” after completing their medical education but waiting for the licence.
“The Embassy has formally approached relevant Chinese authorities to confirm existence of such an option. The Embassy will share any information, when received from the Chinese side, in its social media handles,” the statement added.
In September, New Delhi had advised prospective students planning to study clinical medicine in Chinese universities to be aware of “common” challenges of enrolling here including the quality of teaching in English, lack of gaining practical experience and the low percentage of graduates who pass the mandatory FMGE after returning to India.
The advisory was issued as thousands of Indians studying in Chinese medical colleges are currently stuck at home for over two and half years due to Beijing’s Covid-19-related restrictions on returning to China.
Only 100 Indian students have returned to China in the past few months to resume studies in Chinese universities.
The students returned to China via third countries as there are no direct India-China flights as yet.
According to official estimates, over 23,000 Indian students are currently enrolled in various Chinese universities, a vast majority of them medical students. The numbers had gone up in the past decade until the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
