The apex medical education regulator National Medical Council (NMC) has said that Indian students pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Science in the Philippines will not be eligible for Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in India.
According to NMC, B.Sc. is a pre-medical course in the Philippines with subjects such as biology and psychology and is similar to class 11 and 12 subjects in India. Subjects such as anatomy, biochemistry, biophysics, and microbiology are not being taught under the degree in the Philippines, but these are required to make a student eligible for MBBS in India.
The commission in a notice issued on March 25 said that according to rules, foreign medical qualifications or courses which are not equivalent to the MBBS course in India cannot be treated as eligible qualification for registration to practice medicine in the country.
"The Bachelor of Science course cannot be equated or included with MBBS course. Therefore, after the publication of gazette notification dated 18.11.2021 i.e. NMC's FMGL Regulations 2021, the students who have already taken admission for any foreign medical qualification or course, is not equivalent to the MBBS course in India and cannot be treated as eligible qualification for registration to practice medicine in India," the commission said.
"The pattern is the Bachelor of Science course is followed by MD course. However, in BS course the candidates are not taught like subjects like Anatomy, Biochemistry, Biophysics, Microbiology etc, rather they are being taught Biology, Psychology etc which is equivalent to class 12th in India. Hence, BS course is a basic degree course prior to the starting of graduate/primary medical course in reference to Indian medical education.
"The same does not even qualify a candidate to be eligible for admission in MBBS in India," it added.
