The Gazette of India by NMC for MBBS Abroad

Studying Abroad is a roller coaster ride sometimes. There are many things which one needs to take into consideration while applying for any course in a foreign university.

Whether the course is valid in India is the most important question for Indian students.

Recently the National Medical Commission has released a new Gazette of the new rules and regulations about studying MBBS Abroad. This gazette has mentioned some changes and restrictions about the medical degree (MBBS) from any university.

What does one need to do to get a medical degree that will be valid in India?

Is your medical degree valid in India?

Lets see about the new rule that has been released earlier by NMC about studying MBBS Abroad.

I will focus on all the important points and explain them very well here.

What does it focus on?

The Gazette of India which was released on 18th November 2021, focuses on some important points:

• Course duration for MBBS Abroad
• Required eligibility to practice in India after MBBS from Abroad
• Multiple campuses study not allowed
• Mandatory subjects
• To whom it is applicable

Course Duration for MBBS in Abroad

The Gazette mainly focuses and clearly mentions the course duration of the MBBS/MD course from any university.

It says that the MBBS degree will not be valid unless it has the course duration of 54 months. It must be noted that this 54-month duration does not include an internship.

The Gazette explains about the internship, minimum duration, and maximum duration of MBBS Abroad.

• It is compulsory to get an MBBS degree from the institute with a minimum of 54 months of course duration.
• After completion of 54 months, another 12 months internship is compulsory from the same institute.
• The course should not take more than 10 years after the date of admission to complete.

Check out this screenshot of the Gazette Document

You can view complete document here: Gazette of India by NMC

The whole course should be completed in English medium only

This means that the medical degree from other medium like Ukrainian, Russian, Polish or any other medium of teaching, would not be valid in India.

Some of the foreign universities offers MBBS in their local language medium. So students should take in consideration that while going for MBBS Abroad, they must take admission to English medium only.

Required Eligibility to Practice in India after MBBS from Abroad

The NMC further mentioned in the Gazette that even after completing the valid duration of the MBBS course from a foreign university/institute the students would be eligible to practice in India only when:

• Students must be eligible to practice their medicine in the respective country from where they complete the MBBS/MD course.
• After completion of the course from foreign universities, students should undergo 12 months of internship in India as well.
• Students must clear the National Exit Test (NEXT) or similar screening test of NMC.

Multiple Campuses Study not allowed

Sometimes the students choose to do the first year of their medical degree from one institute and then shifts to another institute for their further duration.

There are some other cases like MBBS in the Philippines where students choose to do the BS course from India and go to the Philippines only for the MD course. The National Medical Commission has clearly abandoned that process now.

According to this Gazette, the whole degree should be completed from one institute only. The course completed from different institutes would not be valid.

Mandatory Subjects

The Gazette of India for MBBS Abroad clearly states that the students should have covered the following subjects in their theory and/or internship. The clinical subjects mentioned below should be in their syllabus and the degree would be valid in India only if the mentioned subjects are covered in their curriculum.

The clinical subjects including but not limited to:

• Community Medicine
• General Medicine
• Psychiatry
• Paediatrics
• General Surgery
• Anaesthesia
• Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Orthopaedics
• Otorhinolaryngology,
• Ophthalmology
• Dermatology
• Emergency or Casualty services

To whom it is applicable

Apart from the above mentioned points, there is one main point that should be taken in consideration. This point states whether this new rule is applicable to you or not. Whether your current degree is valid in India or not. If your admission is already done and you are pursuing an MD course already, would you be able to practice in India?

Well, there is no need to be afraid for those students who are already (before 18th November 2021) taking education in some foreign universities.

• This rule is applicable for the students taking admission to MBBS Abroad after the date of release of this Gazette i.e. 18th November 2021.
• This is not applicable to the students who have already taken admission or started studying the medicine course.
• This is not applicable to those who have already completed the degree before the release of this rule.
• It is not applicable for those who have been specially exempted by the Central Government of India.

So the new Gazette mentioned many new rules about studying MBBS Abroad. Yet students need not worry about it. The new students need to take this rule in mind and choose their university and country for an MBBS degree wisely.

Clearly, the Gazette only specifies the rules about practising medicine in India.

So the students still have other options like practising in foreign countries. One can pass the screening test of the respective country ex. USMLE for the USA and start practising their medicine there.