SC directs NMC to frame scheme for Ukraine return MBBS students within two months
India Today
The Supreme Court has directed the National Medical Commission (NMC) to frame a scheme for MBBS students hit by the Ukraine crisis.
The Supreme Court of India asked the National Medical Commission(NMC) to frame a scheme within two months to complete clinical training in medical colleges here, on Friday to help MBBS students from foreign universities who were facing difficulties because of the Ukraine crisis.
The direction of the apex court came as it was hearing an appeal by the NMC against a Madras High Court order which asked it to register as an MBBS graduate from a Chinese university.
The court had opined that there was nothing wrong in denying provisional registrations because, “without practical training, there cannot be any doctor who is expected to take care of the citizens of the country”.
A bench of justices Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian remarked, “No doubt, the pandemic has thrown new challenges to the entire world including the students but granting provisional registration to complete an internship to a student who has not undergone clinical training would be compromising with the health of the citizens of any country and the health infrastructure at large.”
Nonetheless, taking note of the plight of the student unable to complete his clinical training physically in the concerned Chinese institute because of the pandemic situations while remarking that talent should not be allowed to be wasted and services “should be used to augment health infrastructure in the country.”
In the judgment, Justice Hemant Gupta wrote, “We therefore direct to frame a scheme as a one time measure within two months to allow the student and such similarly situated students who have not actually completed clinical training to undergo clinical training in India in the medical colleges which may be identified by the appellant for a limited duration as may be specified by the appellant, on such charges which the appellant determines.”
The 18-page verdict further specified that it will be open to the NMC, to test students in a manner that it considers appropriate to prove that they are sufficiently trained in order to be provisionally registered to complete an internship for 12 months.
