Not licensed to heal: Foreign doctors flunk qualifying test

Close to 80 per cent of these graduates fail

to clear the mandatory screening exam
C. MAYA
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A foreign medical degree may
sound like a passport to a
successful practice in India.
But in reality, only a woefully
small percentage of doctors
with foreign degrees equivalent to the MBBS get to
practice in the country at
least legally.
Somewhere between 70
and 80 per cent of these stu-

dents fail to clear the mandatory screening examination conducted by the

National Board of Examinations (NBE). Since 2002, it
has been mandatory for All
Foreign Medical Graduates
(FMGs) to clear an examination
Foreign
Medical
Graduates
Examination
(FMGE) to secure a Medical
Council of India (MCI) registration, without which they
cannot practice in India.

Out of the 29,968 students

who have appeared for the
last five examinations, only
3,610 (a mere 12 per cent)
have passed. Records from
the MCI and the NBE reveal
that while thousands of
FMGs appear for the exam
every year, the pass percentage has rarely gone beyond
26 per cent.
In the most recent test, only 600 out of the 5,349 candidates (11.2 per cent) passed
despite relaxed examination
norms and the opportunity
to take the test innumerable
times, a policy introduced in

2004. A number of the unsuccessful students have

graduated from medical universities in China, Russia
and Ukraine, which are a big
draw for Indians aspiring to
be doctors. These countires
offer undergraduate degrees
equivalent to the Indian
MBBS at a far lower cost and
without the tough entrance
examinations and admission
process.
Illegal practice
So what happens to the
majority who fail to clear the
FMGE? Several of them be-

gin practising away from the

eyes of the law. Bipin Batra,
Executive Director, NBE,
however, says the picture is
not as bleak as it is made out
to be. He also rubbishes allegations that the NBE has
deliberately kept the FMGE
tough to keep out foreign
medical graduates. He says
the FMGE is like any other licensure exam, fully based on
the MCIs curriculum, with
no negative marking.

FOREIGN GRADUATES FAIL

MCI EXAM; MADE IN CHINA
TAG HAUNTS THEM | PAGE 10