Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has directed the Health department to allow a one-year internship for eligible MBBS graduates who completed their medical education from the foreign medical colleges and attended online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the extraordinary circumstances prevailing at that time.
Chairing a meeting with the students and senior officers of the Health department here today, the Chief Minister said that the state government would adopt a fair, pragmatic and student-friendly approach while addressing the concerns of affected graduates. He said that the government was committed to ensuring that deserving students do not suffer because of circumstances beyond their control during the pandemic.
Sh. Sukhu asserted that uncertainty had arisen regarding the internship requirement for foreign medical graduates, as students from the same academic batches had been subjected to different internship durations. While some students were permitted to complete a one-year internship, others were directed to undergo a two-year internship despite having pursued their studies under similar conditions during the COVID-19 period.
He said that the National Medical Commission (NMC) had delegated powers to the state governments to assess the adequacy of the ‘compensatory training period’ for foreign medical graduates whose academic programmes were conducted online during the pandemic.
Taking into account the provisions of the NMC and the genuine hardships faced by the students, the state government has decided to fix the internship period at one year for the eligible candidates. Sh. Sukhu directed the Health Department to complete all necessary formalities and issue the required orders at the earliest so that the affected students could begin or complete their internship without further delay.
He added that the initiative would provide much-needed relief to the affected foreign medical graduates and enable them to pursue their careers without unnecessary hurdles, while maintaining the quality of medical education and healthcare services in the State.
Principal Advisor (Media) to the Chief Minister, Naresh Chauhan, Secretary Health Ashish Singhmar and Director, Medical Education Dr. Gopal Berry were also present in the meeting.