Is MBBS From Philippine Valid In India? Will NMC Accept The Existing Students Studying In Philippines?
NMC’s recent advisory invalidating the medical courses of the Philippines has put the careers of scores of students in jeopardy. A recent advisory issued by the Indian medical education regulator, the National Medical Commission, has put the career of over 15,000 medical students studying in the Philippines, at stake.
Indian students have been pursuing their undergraduate medical courses for the past one to two years across Philippines’ colleges. Now, the advisory says that their course is not valid and hence they cannot appear for the Exit Exam (earlier screening test) in India to become a doctor.
Philippines follow different medical education systems. While in India, a candidate appears for NEET (National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test) after class 12 and based on individual scores gets admission to a five-and-a-half-year MBBS course. In the Philippines, a candidate first completes a BS Biology course of 1.5 to 2 years, and then gets admission into a four-year-long MD programme.
Duration of MBBS Program in Philippines: First, the Gazette notification of November 18, 2021, among other things, said that candidates who were pursuing undergraduate medical courses would not be allowed to sit for the screening test if the duration of their course was less than 54 months. After the students sought clarification from the NMC on whether BS Biology would be considered a part of the four-year MD course, the NMC’s answer was negative.
Further, in its advisory dated March 25, 2022, the NMC clarified that the BS Biology and MD courses were two separate degrees in the Philippines and that BS courses could not be equated/included with the MBBS course.
Is it applicable only on New Students seeking Admission? Answering to it said that after the publication of the Gazette notification of November 18, 2021, students who had already taken admission for any foreign medical qualification/course which was not equivalent to the MBBS course in India could not be treated as eligible qualifications for registration to practice medicine in India.
Mandatory 12 months Internship: Second, according to NMC’s regulations one year of Internship after completion of the course is must for all Indian students in the country of their completion. This adds on to the trouble to the cialis alkohol students studying in Philippines since the regulations to do internship in Philippines is adverse. According to Commission of higher Education Republic of Philippines, Medical graduates need to qualify licensing exam in the country to get into the clinical internship in hospitals across the country. Which again not easy.
Latest News on Indian Medical Students in Philippines
Thousands of Indian students studying medicine in the Philippines are disappointed after the Delhi High Court refused to uphold the validity of their medical courses in a judgment on July 20. Deprived by the new regulations enacted by the medical education regulator National Medical Commission (NMC) on November 18, 2021, some students had challenged it in the Delhi High Court. They argued that since they took admissions before November 18, 2021, following all norms, the new regulations debarring them to appear in the Exit Exam in India should not apply to them. However, the two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma rejected their arguments on the ground that the National Medical Commission (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, 2021 has already been upheld by the Supreme Court in another matter.
The Supreme Court on May 2, 2022, while hearing a petition of a student who wanted to study medicine abroad, held that National Medical Commission (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, 2021 are a valid piece of legislation.
A section of legal experts is of the view that dismissal of the case in the Delhi High Court and approval of the regulations by the Supreme Court in another matter don’t mean the end of the road for Indian students in the Philippines. Even some medical experts are of the view that students studying in the Philippines deserve relief as they went to pursue their medical courses as per the then existing norms and hence they are not at fault.
Uncertainly: Lawyers, who appeared for the students say that their case is completely different from what was decided by the Supreme Court. Still things very much uncertain and career of thousands are at state, with very less hope to respire.
