The National Board of Examinations is going to conduct the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) 2021 on June 18, 2021 after the Delhi High Court rejected the plea for postponement of the exam. A petition filed by the Association of MD Physicians was dismissed the High Court and the exam is now scheduled to be held in two days.
As per the recently released list of examination guidelines, it is mandatory to carry a negative COVID-19 report in order to get entry in the exam hall. NBE has already released the FMGE admit card at natboard.edu.in.
Negative COVID-19 Test Report: It is MANDATORY to bring & submit printed NEGATIVE REPORT of COVID-19 RT-PCR/RAT/CBNAAT/TrueNAT test done within 72 hours prior to the examination date (not earlier than 15th June 2021).
The FMGE exam is held for candidates who have obtained their Medical Graduate degree from outside of India.
The National Board of Examination has already released the admit card for the FMGE 2021 exam on the official website natboard.edu.in. With it, the board has also released 10 guidelines for candidates to follow for the safe conduct of the examination amidst the pandemic.
FMGs Unhappy With FMGE 2021 Scheduled for 18 June – Why The Exam Was Not Postponed, and What Next?
Justice Amit Bansal chairing the High Court’s bench hearing the plea ruled that he is not inclined and outright dismissed the case. The petitioners have claimed that by holding the FMGE 2021 exam on June 18, amidst the pandemic, the NBE is putting the lives of candidates, exam conducting officials and other around them at significant health risk.
While the petitioners were hoping for the High Court to rule in their favour of postponing the exam by at least a month so that Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) can get vaccinated before appearing in the exam.
In the wake of the second wave of the pandemic in India, Foreign Medical Graduates were reportedly urging the government to allow them to serve the nation as frontline doctors. However, as per Indian Medical Council Act and Screening Test Regulations 2002, such medical graduates, who have a Foreign Medical degree have to pass the FMGE Screening test in order for the Indian Government to recognize their qualification and get registration with State Medical Councils in order to legally practice as a Doctor in India.
Recently, NDTV reported that as per an official notice, it is imperative that the FMGE 2021 screening test be held without any further delay so that FMGs can get registered with State Medical Councils and legally join the doctors serving the nation in times of the pandemic. The popular media channel reported that as per the official notice, “In view of the sharp decline in COVID 19 cases across the country, it has been decided not to defer this examination and to conduct it with further extra protective measures”.
It is evident that in order to legally include otherwise qualified medical graduates in the Indian health care sector during such a crisis, the FMGE exam must be conducted without further delay.
