KOCHI: With the implementation of requirement to pass common eligibility test to practice medicine for those who have studied for MBBS in India and in abroad, the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) conducted only for those who have studied abroad will be abolished.

It is administered by the National Medical Commission (NMC) under the name National Exit Test (NEXT). PG admission is also on the basis of this rank list. MBBS final year students are required to do an internship but need to pass the first stage of the NEXT exam. A person have to pass both the exams inorder to practice. It is heard that it will be implemented from next year onwards.

Very few MBBS graduates from abroad have passed FMGE. The last pass percentage was 24 percent. The success rate was 14.68 percent in 2020 and 23.83 percent in 2019. Exam Centers in Kerala include Ernakulam, Kannur, Kollam, Kottayam, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur.

"Many countries have adopted the British syllabus for MBBS, including in India, China and Ukraine. More students studying abroad will be able to qualify through the new exam." said Andrews Mathew, President, Foreign Medical

Graduates Parents Association.