Foreign med grads want reduction in registration fee

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu must reduce the fee for registration of foreign medical graduates as doctors, the students’ body urged the state health secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi, also a member of the ad hoc committee administrating the state medical council.

The present regulations of the council say foreign graduates must pay Rs 20,464 to the Tamil Nadu Medical Council for a permanent registration number — a mandatory license to practice medicine. In comparison, students from Indian colleges or universities pay Rs 3,600 for the same registration process.

Most Tamil Nadu students who went abroad to study medicine are from middle class families, who missed the chance to study in government colleges or government quota seats in self-financing colleges by a small margin, he said. “The tuition fee in many foreign countries for MBBS is affordable but it takes six years to complete the course outside India. When we return, it takes another year to complete the foreign medical college graduate screening licentiate exam. After clearing this exam, we do our compulsory medical internship for one year. For this, students pay `10,340 to get a provisional eligibility certificate,” said foreign medical graduate wing secretary, Tamil Nadu medical students’ association, Dr M Senthil Kumar.

Students say it take at least nine years before they begin practicing as an MBBS doctor in India, while many of their peers who studied in India may have even completed the post-graduate courses. “It is financially and mentally testing to work as first-generation doctor for all foreign students. It would be good if the committee reduces registration fee before a new committee is elected for the state council,” he said.

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