Question : Training for Doctors from Foreign Medical Colleges

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is considering a programme to upgrade skills of doctors, who graduate from foreign medical colleges to help them get the training needed to practice medicine in India;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government conducts biannual Foreign Medical Graduate Exam (FMGE) for granting licence to practice in India;

(d) if so, the details thereof along with the number of foreign educated doctors qualified during the last five years; and

(e) other steps being taken by the Government to expand the healthcare facilities in rural India?

ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND
FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)
(a) & (b): A draft Skill Training Curriculum has been prepared for the Foreign Medical Graduates who repeatedly fail to qualify the FMGE for preparing such students for the exam through self-sustaining MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and Clinical Skill Labs etc.

(c) & (d): Section 13(4A) of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 prescribes that any Indian student who obtains medical qualification from a country outside India shall have to qualify a Screening Test i.e. Foreign Medical Graduate Exam (FMGE) to obtain license to practice medicine in India. National Board of Examinations (NBE) conducts FMGE biannually in June and December. NBE informed that in the last five years (2014 to 2018), 74,202 candidates appeared in the FMGE and out of which 10,400 qualified the said exam.

(e): Public Health and hospitals, being a State subject, the primary responsibility of providing accessible, affordable and quality healthcare including setting up of new hospitals and up gradation and strengthening of existing health facilities lies with the State Governments.

However, under the National Health Mission, financial and technical support is provided to State/UTs for strengthening their healthcare systems including for expanding and strengthening the public health infrastructure. This includes setting up or upgrading public health facilities, creation/ up-gradation of Maternal and Child Health (MCH) wings, Special Newborn Care Units (SNCUs), Labor rooms, Operation theatres, strengthening laboratory services, procurement of drugs & equipment, Ambulances, Mobile Medical Units etc. based on the requirement posed by the States/UTs in their Programme Implementation Plans (PIPs).