FMGL • INDIA + COUNTRY
A student-friendly, evidence-first portal to understand the NMC FMGL requirements, Philippines MD structure, CHED/CMO-18 curriculum, PGI/internship pathway, registrability, PLE, reciprocity and other PRC routes. Start with Terminology, then read the FMGL questions in order. A dedicated NExT timeline explains what is law, what was deferred, and what a 2026 entrant should re-check before returning to India.
Official-evidence guide to the Philippines pathway: CHED curriculum, 54-month MD, English medium, Schedule-I, PGI/internship, registrability, PLE, reciprocity and India-side FMGL/NExT requirements.
These are India-side requirements. They do not change merely because a student chooses the Philippines, Georgia or another country.
Read this first. These are the abbreviations used throughout the portal.
Commission on Higher Education — the Philippine government body that regulates higher education, including standards for Doctor of Medicine programmes.
Philippines • Education regulatorProfessional Regulation Commission — the Philippine authority responsible for professional regulation, licensure examinations, registration and permits for regulated professions.
Philippines • Professional regulatorForeign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations, 2021 — NMC rules governing key requirements for Indian citizens/OCI who obtain their primary medical qualification outside India and seek registration in India.
India • Core ruleNational Medical Commission — India's statutory medical regulator. It frames medical education and registration regulations, including FMGL requirements.
India • Medical regulatorCHED Memorandum Order No. 18 — the Philippine policy/standards document used in this portal to understand the Doctor of Medicine curriculum, clinical clerkship and internship framework.
Philippines • MD standardsDoctor of Medicine — the primary professional medical programme in the Philippines discussed here. Do not confuse the Philippine MD with India's postgraduate MD specialty degree.
Important distinctionPhysician Licensure Examination — the Philippine physician licensing examination. For foreign nationals, eligibility also involves the applicable legal and reciprocity requirements.
Licensing examinationPostgraduate Internship — a post-clerkship clinical internship/training concept in the Philippines. For foreign graduates, the exact pathway and certification must be checked with the medical school/hospital.
Clinical trainingAssociation of Philippine Medical Colleges — an association of Philippine medical schools. Its advisories are useful for understanding implementation of internship/training pathways, but it is not the same authority as CHED or PRC.
Medical-school associationThe list of mandatory subjects referred to in the NMC FMGL Regulations. A foreign medical programme must satisfy the applicable subject requirement.
FMGL requirementSupervised clinical rotations forming part of the medical course. In this portal, clerkship and the separate 12-month internship should not be treated as the same thing.
Do not confuse with internshipWhether the medical qualification can be registered/recognized for professional purposes in the country where it is awarded. This is related to, but not identical with, actually holding an unrestricted licence.
Key FMGL conceptFor foreign applicants seeking Philippine professional licensure, PRC may require proof that the applicant's home country gives Filipino professionals the legally required reciprocal opportunity. PRC determines compliance under the applicable law and documents.
Case-specific for PLESpecial Temporary Permit — a PRC mechanism allowing a foreign professional to perform defined professional activities temporarily when the applicable legal requirements are met. It is not the same as unrestricted permanent physician registration.
Temporary routeTemporary Training Permit — a permit associated with an approved training pathway for foreign professionals. Its scope is training, not an automatic unrestricted licence to practise independently.
Training routeQualifying Assessment for Foreign Medical Professionals — terminology used in the Philippine foreign-medical-professional training/assessment pathway referenced in this portal. It should be understood separately from the PLE full-licensure route.
Foreign professional pathwayCompulsory Rotating Medical Internship — India's supervised rotating internship. Under FMGL, the India-side internship requirement is separate from the required internship/training completed abroad.
India • InternshipNational Exit Test — the examination framework contemplated under Indian law/regulations. For a student graduating years later, the applicable examination must be checked against the rules actually in force at that time.
Future-return checkThis timeline is only for rules that apply across countries. Philippines and Georgia each have their own separate timeline below.
Core post-2021 foreign-medical-graduate framework.
Administrative clarification; Gazette remains controlling where wording matters.
Modern Indian registration framework, including temporary-registration provisions relevant to foreign practitioners.
Notified Step 1 + internship + Step 2 framework.
Implementation deferred; framework should not be described as abolished.
Reiterated India-side internship implications for relevant FMGs.
Current NMC reference set continues to evolve; students must check the rule applicable at return.
Short, direct answers to the questions students and parents most commonly search before taking medical admission abroad.
FMGL 2021 means the National Medical Commission Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations, 2021. For covered students, the regulations prescribe conditions such as minimum 54 months of foreign medical education, a 12-month foreign internship, English medium, Schedule-I subjects, the local registration/licensing condition, Indian internship and the applicable NMC-mandated test.
NMC's FAQ states that the regulations came into force on 18 November 2021. Students already pursuing their undergraduate medical education abroad before that date are among the categories governed by the previously applicable rules.
FMGL Regulation 4(a)(i) requires a course leading to the foreign medical degree with a minimum duration of 54 months.
FMGL 2021 requires a minimum 12-month internship in the same foreign medical institution. This foreign internship is separate from the India-side supervised internship requirement.
NExT is the National Exit Test framework notified by NMC in 2023. The notified framework has Step 1 theory and Step 2 practical/clinical components and is designed for licensure and broad-specialty postgraduate merit. NMC deferred the NExT examination on 13 July 2023 until further directions.
The 2023 NExT Regulations expressly contemplate Foreign Medical Graduates. However, because the examination rollout was deferred, students should follow the NMC examination and transition rules actually in force when they become eligible for registration in India.
The Embassy of India, Manila advisory dated 17 June 2026 records CHED's position that CHED-recognized HEIs offer a 54-month MD, include NMC Schedule-I subjects, use English as the medium of instruction and provide a 12-month internship. Students must still verify the exact institution and all NMC conditions.
The Embassy advisory states that foreign graduates can take the Philippine Physician Licensure Examination subject to the reciprocity requirement under Philippine law. The advisory says guidance from competent Indian authorities on establishing that reciprocity is awaited.
The Georgian programmes reviewed in this evidence portal generally follow the six-year, 360-ECTS Medical Doctor structure. Exact curriculum, English medium, clinical training and internship evidence should be verified university by university.
No. NMC advises students to ensure that the foreign programme satisfies all applicable FMGL conditions. Eligibility is based on the student's programme, training, documentation and the Indian rules applicable to that student—not simply the university name.
This section states only the common NMC requirements under FMGL 2021. It does not answer whether any country or university satisfies them. Country-specific answers and evidence are provided only in the relevant country section.
Requirement: a course leading to the foreign medical degree with a minimum duration of 54 months.
Requirement: a minimum 12-month internship in the same foreign medical institution.
Requirement: the foreign medical degree must have English as the medium of instruction.
Requirement: the student must have studied the mandatory subjects specified in Schedule-I.
Requirement: registration with the respective professional regulatory body, or otherwise being competent to obtain a licence to practise medicine in the jurisdiction where the degree is awarded, at par with the licence available to citizens of that country.
Requirement: a minimum 12-month supervised internship in India after applying for the same to the Commission.
Requirement: clearance of the National Exit Test or such other mandated test or tests conducted by the Commission.
This section applies the common FMGL 2021 checklist to the Philippines. Each item gives the Philippines-specific answer and the supporting official evidence from the Embassy of India, CHED, PRC, APMC or other relevant authority.
Embassy of India, Manila — Advisory on Medical Education in the Philippines, 17 June 2026.
CHED communication underlying the Embassy statement.
This is the opening summary. The Philippines section now starts from FMGL 2021 clause-by-clause compliance; supporting screenshots and evidence are placed under the relevant requirement and later in the evidence library.
Only Philippines-specific developments are shown here.
National policy, standards and guidelines for the Doctor of Medicine programme; basis for curriculum and internship structure.
Part of the official evidence set used for duration, curriculum and foreign-student compliance questions.
Supports the Certificate of Registrability pathway discussed in this portal.
Clarifies postgraduate clinical training / PGI pathway for foreign medical graduates without the ordinary local internship matching process.
Reciprocity is determined through PRC/Board review; temporary professional routes such as STP/TTP remain distinct from full PLE registration.
High-value student-facing source recording CHED's position on 54 months, English, Schedule-I, internship and registrability, while separately discussing PLE reciprocity.
Simple year/phase comparison using NMC CBME and CHED CMO 18. Same content may be sequenced differently.
| Stage | India MBBS — NMC CBME | Philippines MD — CHED CMO 18 |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Professional / MD I | AnatomyPhysiologyBiochemistry | Anatomy & HistologyPhysiologyBiochemistryPreventive Medicine & Public HealthNeurosciencePatient SafetyDisaster Risk Reduction & ManagementLeadership / Management / Health Policy |
| 2nd Professional / MD II | PathologyMicrobiologyPharmacologyForensic Medicine & Toxicology teachingClinical exposure/postings | Microbiology & ParasitologyPathologyPharmacologyMedicinePediatricsObstetrics-GynecologySurgery incl. Ophthalmology, ENT, Anesthesiology & OrthopedicsPreventive Medicine & Public HealthNeurosciencePsychiatryGeriatricsPatient SafetyDisaster Risk Reduction & ManagementLeadership / Management / Health PolicyInterprofessional Education |
| 3rd Professional / MD III | Community MedicineForensic Medicine & ToxicologyENTOphthalmologyMedicineSurgeryPediatricsObstetrics & Gynaecology | Legal Medicine & JurisprudenceMedicinePediatricsObstetrics-GynecologySurgery & alliedPreventive Medicine & Public HealthNeurosciencePsychiatryLeadership / Management / Health PolicyGeriatricsPatient SafetyDisaster Risk Reduction & ManagementInterprofessional Education |
| Final Professional / MD IV | General Medicine + alliedGeneral Surgery + alliedPediatricsObstetrics & GynaecologyClinical postings / integrated training | MedicinePediatricsObstetrics-GynecologySurgery & alliedPreventive Medicine & Public HealthNeurosciencePsychiatryLeadership / Management / Health PolicyGeriatricsPatient SafetyDisaster Risk Reduction & ManagementInterprofessional Education12-month rotating clinical clerkship |
| CRMI / PGI | 12-month Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship | 12-month PGI / postgraduate clinical-training pathway after clerkship |
Do not mix the Year IV clinical clerkship with the post-clerkship internship/PGI question.
CMO 18 separately recognizes internship as the last phase of basic physician training.
Foreign graduates may undertake postgraduate clinical training without the ordinary local matching route, subject to the institution's implementation.
This is the structure in the NMC National Exit Test Regulations, 2023. The examination itself was deferred on 13 July 2023, so the framework below is not a promise of the eventual implementation date or conducting agency.
Type: Theory examination; computer-based; MCQ format.
Six papers: Medicine & allied; Surgery & allied; Obstetrics & Gynaecology; Paediatrics; ENT; Ophthalmology, with applied aspects of earlier MBBS subjects.
Passing: Under the 2023 Regulations, minimum 50% in each of the six papers.
Who conducts it? The Regulations say NMC or an appropriate body/authority/institution approved by NMC. No permanent live conducting agency should be promised while implementation is deferred.
Frequency in the framework: Regular Step 1 twice a year (May/November or as notified).
Type: Practical / clinical / viva voce, in person.
Seven disciplines: Medicine & allied; Surgery & allied; OBGYN; Paediatrics; ENT; Ophthalmology; Orthopaedics & PMR.
Result: Pass / Fail based on clinical competence.
Who conducts it? Respective State Health Universities / Institutions under NMC standards; where such universities do not exist, NMC decides the authorized institution.
When? After completion of internship.
| Candidate | Step 1 role under 2023 framework | What happens next? |
|---|---|---|
| Indian MBBS student | Step 1 replaces the conventional final MBBS Part-II theory examination under the notified framework. | After passing Step 1 + university practical/clinical requirements → CRMI → Step 2. |
| Foreign Medical Graduate | FMG who completed overseas education and fulfils applicable FMGL conditions would need to pass all six Step 1 theory papers for provisional registration / approved Indian internship. | Indian internship → Step 2 → registration/licence if all requirements are met. |
| Already registered doctor seeking PG | The 2023 framework says already licensed/registered doctors wishing broad-specialty PG admission need to appear in Step 1 for the PG merit score. | Use valid Step 1 score in the prescribed PG counselling framework. |
Total Step 1 merit is calculated from the raw scores of the six papers. If a candidate uses improvement attempts, the Regulations contain a separate calculation method.
For broad-specialty PG merit, the notified 2023 framework provides three-year validity for the NExT Step 1 score. Step 2 itself is Pass/Fail.
Registrability, PLE eligibility and reciprocity are related but not identical.
PLE = Physician Licensure Examination. It is the ordinary examination route associated with full physician registration/licensing in the Philippines.
Full licensing routePotentially yes, when the professional law permits it and reciprocity/international-agreement plus documentary requirements are established to PRC/Board satisfaction.
ConditionalPotentially, but it should not be promised as automatic. The Indian applicant must satisfy the Philippine reciprocity process and receive the required PRC/Board determination.
Case-specificIn simple terms, the Philippines checks whether the applicant's home-country law gives Filipino professionals substantially comparable access to licensing/registration and practice.
India angle: NMC Act Section 34 creates a temporary-registration mechanism for foreign medical practitioners, which may form part of the legal material an Indian applicant submits. It does not automatically guarantee that PRC will accept reciprocity.
Different legal routes exist for different purposes. Do not treat them as interchangeable.
PRC-issued STP records include Indian citizens in the profession of Medicine. This proves temporary professional authority can exist; it is not the same as unrestricted PLE registration.