A protest by Indian foreign medical graduates was called off on Thursday after the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences agreed to conduct an additional Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) by the end of October, sources said
A meeting between the representatives of the protesting medical graduates and officials of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) was held at the latter’s office in Dwarka on Thursday, during which it was also agreed that from next year, FMGE would be conducted three times a year – in December/January, April/May and August/September, the sources said citing the miniutes of the meeting.
GATE 2027 registration date postponed, new dates soon at gate2027.iitm.ac.in
FMGE is one of the mandatory requirements for an Indian citizen who has a medical degree from outside India to practise medicine in the country.
The protesters were represented at the meeting by the members of the Association of Indian Medical Students Association-Foreign Medical Students and Graduates (AIMSA-FMSW), during which issues faced by the medical graduates in the FMGE held in June 2026 were discussed.
RRB NTPC UG Exam 2026 dates announced for CBT 2, check schedule here
According to the minutes of the meeting, the NBEMS agreed to conduct an additional FMGE for Indian foreign medical graduates by the end of October 2026.
The meeting also discussed the difficulty level of the examination.
According to the minutes, the question paper would be rationalised by increasing the number of questions in the ‘low’ and ‘moderate’ difficulty categories.
The proportion of ‘low’, ‘moderate’ and ‘difficult’ questions would be 30:50:20, respectively, they said.
The exam fee would also be reduced from the next round of examination, according to the minutes.
CTET September 2026 exam postponed, registration window reopens at ctet.nic.in
In another key decision, the NBEMS agreed to publish question IDs, correct answer IDs and the response IDs marked by each candidate, along with the marks awarded for each question, on the applicant portal.
The minutes also said that the NBEMS would declare before the Delhi High Court, in an ongoing matter, that the number of video-based questions in FMGE June 2026 was 14.
The meeting also discussed the demand for representation of Indian foreign medical graduates in the NBEMS grievance redressal committee for matters related to FMGE.
According to the sources, the governing body of the NBEMS would examine the request, while interaction between the exam body and Indian foreign medical graduates would be made more frequent.
On exam infrastructure, the NBEMS agreed to make the facilities at the examination centres more conducive for candidates and that necessary instructions would be issued to its technology partner.
The meeting also agreed to provide an additional one minute per section in FMGE, subject to a maximum of three minutes per shift, to account for time taken for biometric attendance marking.
After the meeting, the AIMSA-FMSW agreed to call off the protest on Thursday, the sources said.
