Foreign medical colleges: Look before you leap

A close look at foreign medical colleges that thousands of Indians have graduated from shows that many are unaccredited, don’t have hospitals or even their own websites

- Aditi Narendra

In December 2023, over 38,000 candidates wrote the Foreign Medical Graduates Exam (FMGE), the licensure exam that Indian graduates of foreign medical colleges have to pass to practise or study medicine further in India. Less than 23% of them passed. For the remaining 75% of examinees, their medical careers are e”ectively on hold until they clear.

This poor show in the screening exam is not a one-o” but has been the case in every session of the FMGE, for years. Thousands of students from India opt to study medicine abroad every year. Among the major reasons driving this growing trend are cost and the shortage of medical seats in India. A medical degree is cheaper in several countries than in many private medical colleges in India. Plus, it is easier to get into foreign medical colleges as well, given the cut-throat competition for the limited number of seats here. There were just over a lakh seats for the 23,81,833 candidates who registered for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET UG) 2024.

That said, a foreign medical degree is no guarantee of a career in medicine in India. The NMC mandates the FMGE, and most don’t pass. Second, an analysis of medical colleges from which Indian students have written the FMGE casts doubt on the quality of medical education in several countries as well. Many colleges seem to be unaccredited; many are without hospitals or internship opportunities; some operations are so ad hoc they don’t even have a functioning website for the most part of the year.

The FMGE 2022 is the last round of the exam for which college and country-wise data on the number of students appearing for and clearing FMGE was available.