Due to the pandemic, medical students had to return back to India or complete the course including practicals through online classes. In a major move, the Supreme Court on Friday asked the National Medical Commission to allow such students to undertake clinical courses in Indian Medical colleges. They were also asked to recognize their degrees after completion of courses instead of invalidating them.

Justice Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian stated that an individual cannot become a good physician without practical training which can only be achieved in physical form. However, they also expressed their sympathies to the affected students who could not attend practical classes physically due to the pandemic.

This move was a major relief to students from Ukraine who were on the verge of completing their medical education. The justice bench stated that the pandemic threw the whole world into chaos but providing internships or provisional registration to a foreign returned medical student who has not taken any clinical training would be a hazardous decision. This will affect the Indian citizens and our nation at the large. Hence, the decision of the commission against granting a provisional registration cannot be dismissed. 

Source: ET Healthworld