A recent notification by tamilnadu Medical Council (TNMC) has created panic and stress among indian students pursuing MBBS abroad, in particular those studying in China. tamil Nadu Medical Council (TNMC) is in charge of providing registrations to medical graduates which will enable them to practise medicine in the state. Recently, the TNMC made it mandatory for students who have completed their medical degree abroad to undergo a mandatory internship in any indian hospital approved by the Medical Council of india (MCI) for one year to be eligible to practise medicine in tamil Nadu.

This announcement has kicked up a furore among students who are pursuing medicine abroad since many feel that this rule is discriminatory, and they would lose both valuable time and money. Prior to this notification, tamil Nadu had accepted an internship abroad. students who studied abroad and wanted to practice in tamil Nadu were eligible to apply for indian registration after writing a qualifying exam. Around 700 foreign medical graduates apply for registration with TNMC every year, said a source in the council. However, there is no data available as to how many of these foreign medical graduates returning to tamil Nadu studied in China. According to the Ministry of Human Resource Development 21,000 indians are pursuing medicine in china as of 2019.

Speaking to TNM, an official from the TNMC justified the change in norms. “Basically internships should not be done without a license. In india, students are provided a provisional license which will be made permanent after they complete their internship of one year. An Internship is essentially practising medicine in a designated hospital under supervision of a senior doctor. An Internship is essentially practising medicine in a designated hospital under supervision of a senior doctor. Most countries except china give such provisional licenses and the students are allowed to opt for internship in India. In china, they write final exams, then do internship without license and then write the licensing (or graduation exams) exams to earn the degree. The system itself is flawed there. Hence we decided to bring in this norm for all graduates coming to india from abroad,” he explained.