Internship not provided: 425 MBBS graduates who studied medicine abroad clueless about future

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Government's cruelty by not providing internship opportunities to 425 students who have completed MBBS from foreign countries including China and Russia. These doctors are being denied the opportunity on the grounds that there are no vacancies in government medical colleges. The National Medical Council's mandate that 7.5% of internships in medical colleges in the state should be used to accommodate foreign medical graduates is also not being followed.

Those who have studied abroad can apply for internships in Kerala only after passing the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE). Those who have passed this examination till December 2024 are waiting for the government's mercy.

Foreign medical graduates can get permanent registration with the Medical Council only after completing a one-year stipend-free internship at a state medical college. Only then can they start working. With this, those who studied by taking bank loans have not been able to complete their internship, even though it is time to start repaying.

Internship opportunities will be available in private medical colleges in the state if the government intervenes. However, the government is not taking any initiative for that either. Meanwhile, some private colleges are taking the stand that they will provide internships if graduates pay fees. Students are unable to find money for internships in addition to the cost of studying.

200 people waiting for clerkship

Those who studied MBBS online during the Covid period and the Ukraine war should pass FMGE and complete clerkship for at least one year. They should do their internship after that. There are about 200 people in Kerala waiting for an opportunity for clerkship. Special consideration was given to those who wanted to do clerkship in all other states, but it was not given in Kerala.

''If internship is not available in Kerala, students will have to depend on other states. Many cannot do that.

-Dr. Ranjith.C.R,

Secretary,

Association of Doctors and Medical Students