Indian students who are planning to pursue MBBS in Georgia should check whether they will be permitted to practice medicine in India after their graduation. Georgia has recently been facing issues regarding compliance with the National Medical Commission Foreign Medical Graduates Licentiate (FMGL) 2021 regulations.
The Embassy of India in Yerevan, which also covers Georgia, indicated a distinction between completing the 6-year medical course as commonly advertised by universities in Georgia and receiving an independent license to practice medicine.
On 18 November, 2021, the NMC published the FMGL Regulations 2021. The regulations specified the requirements that foreign medical graduates need to follow to obtain registration in India to practice medicine in the country.
According to the rules, a foreign medical graduate must have completed their medical course with a duration of fifty-four months, completed an internship for a year, which is offered by the same university, and receive a graduation degree with the medium of instruction in English.
The regulations state that the FMGs need to be "registered with the respective professional regulatory body or otherwise competent to grant license to practice medicine in their respective jurisdiction of the country in which the medical degree is awarded and at par with the license to practice medicine given to citizens of that country."
There are a few other requirements for an FMG to be eligible for practising in India, including a mandatory internship of a minimum of one year in India and taking examinations such as FMGE or NExT, whichever is applicable and conducted by NMC.
According to a report by Education Times, official updates from the Indian Embassy in Yerevan, which also handles Georgia, point out a critical difference between finishing a six-year medical degree and obtaining a regular license to practice medicine independently.
On September 29, 2022, a revised advisory was issued by the embassy that clarified that after completing a 6-year MD programme in Georgia, the students could work as “junior doctors”, but they need to be supervised by seniors.
The Georgian Embassy has taken a different position on the status of the six-year MD. It has stated that graduates of accredited Georgian medical programs can work as junior doctors and perform doctors' duties under the guidance of a certified specialist. The Georgian Embassy has also described the junior-doctor position as equivalent to an MBBS qualification in India for this purpose.
It was also stated that in order to obtain an independent license to practise medicine, the graduates are required to clear more examinations and undergo residency and postgraduate training.
In April 2024, in response to an RTI, the embassy stated that postgraduate education in a specialised field is mandatory to obtain a licence to practise medicine in Armenia and Georgia. It also mentioned that postgraduate courses in Georgia range from one to four years.
In June 2024, the embassy communicated that Georgia grants medical licenses only to those citizens who have completed their postgraduate degrees and can speak the Georgian language.
A notice was issued in August 2024; the Georgian embassy clarified that junior doctors in the country are only allowed to practice under supervision. However, it added that such graduates are equal to an MBBS graduate in India.
On September 24, 2026, the NMC issued a clarification about the CPGRAMS grievance. The regulator stated that the “Junior doctor” status meets clause 4(b) of the FMG 2021 Regulations only if it legally authorises medical practice at the designated level.
The clarification does not mean that every graduate holding junior-doctor status automatically meets the FMGL requirement. The key issue is whether that status legally permits medical practice at the level required under the FMGL Regulations. If independent medical practice in Georgia requires additional certification and postgraduate training, junior-doctor status alone may not meet this requirement.
(Rh/ARC/MSM/2VMSM)
