NBT News Desk: The Philippines government has made some changes regarding medical education and practice, which will benefit all international medical graduates including India. Under this, students from other countries will be given license and allowed to practice locally. This will also be convenient for those students who want to practice in India, because these rules match the rules of India's National Medical Commission (NMC), according to which students can take a screening test in India after completing their studies abroad. A valid practicing license is required for this.
Such steps have already been taken by some other countries, where a large number of Indian students go to pursue medical education, such as Russia, Belarus, Georgia. The NMC has implemented the rule from 2021 that students taking medical degree from abroad will be allowed to take the screening test here only if they have a valid practicing license of that country. Now the Philippines has made rules for licensing and practice for foreign students, which is sure to benefit Indian students. Earlier in 2023, the NMC did not recognize the Bachelor of Science course of the Philippines, which was considered equivalent to the MBBS course of India. The problem was that it was a four-year course, which was less than the 54 months prescribed by the NMC.
Foreign education agent Kadwin Pillai says that such problems are now a thing of the past, as the amendment made in the duration of UG medical courses in the Philippines is in line with the requirements of the NMC. This amendment will allow foreign medical students studying in the Philippines to practice locally or internationally, which will greatly benefit our students. Also, the number of students going to the Philippines for medical education will also increase. Every year 2,000 Indian students go to the Philippines for their UG medical education.
This year, a record 24 lakh students have taken the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (UG). Foreign education agents believe that about five lakh Indian students will go abroad to study medicine. Such students spend an average of Rs 40 lakh on their studies. Foreign education consultant Dr. Umesh Gurjar has raised questions on the outflow of Indian currency and the existence of foreign medical institutions that do not meet the standards of NMC. He said that this is ruining the careers of thousands of Indian students. He has appealed to the Indian embassies in such countries to issue advisories on the status of medical colleges there.
