FMGE: Did 18,800 Indians graduate from unaccredited foreign medical colleges?

Graduates of 496 medical colleges spread across the world wrote the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) in 2022. A close look at these colleges revealed that only 140 were accredited and 108 had accreditation for limited periods. For 218 medical colleges, Careers360 could not find any evidence of accreditation at all. As many as 18,878 Indians graduated from these colleges wrote the FMGE in 2022; only 4,548 of them cleared it.

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Indian medical colleges are regulated by the National Medical Commission, a statutory body that not only sets curriculum and teaching standards but also frames regulations for the establishment and administration of medical colleges, recruitment of teachers, internship and training, and admissions and at all levels. It is also responsible for monitoring and assessing medical colleges. All of this taken together is intended to guarantee a minimum standard of medical instruction in the country.

In the case of the 140 accredited foreign medical colleges, from which at least 4,961 Indians graduated, only some appear to be accredited by a comparable, public body like the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions. The rest claim to have been assessed and accredited by other or private organisations whose rigour and trustworthiness Careers360 was not able to independently ascertain.

Unlike its predecessor, the Medical Council of India, the NMC does not advise Indians on which medical college abroad to attend or avoid. The sifting of quality candidates is through the FMGE; those who clear it are granted licences to practise in India. Every year, the FMGE results are sobering. Of the 54,924 candidates to write FMGE 2022, only about 23% qualified. In FMGE 2023, the results for which were announced recently, 77.8% candidates failed.

Also check: FMGE: Over 40% of foreign medical colleges Indians attended unaccredited; many without hospitals, websites

For the purpose of this analysis, Careers360 has considered FMGE 2022 data as college and country-wise data for FMGE 2023 was not available at the time this analysis was carried out.

FMGE: Accreditation and Validity

Accreditation status for an educational institution is an official stamp of approval. This is given by accrediting bodies at national and global level. These agencies approve programmes and courses and review them periodically. For the purpose of this analysis, “limited-validity accreditation” refers to accreditation granted for a limited period of time.

As many as 99 medical colleges in China have limited-validity accreditation. Other countries with medical colleges with limited-validity accreditation are Armenia (2), Australia (1), Bulgaria (4), Germany (1) and Guyana (1). Of these nine, only three are accredited by a medical body; the rest have general accreditation (Tables 1 and 2).

In the case of many foreign medical colleges, the information available online varies with the period. For example, during the admission season, micro-sites with links to admission forms appear even if a full-fledged website for the institutions is still missing. For Careers360, this counts as a missing website. Similarly, claims about accreditation are made more frequently when admissions are open. For this reason, there may be some variation between the figures stated here and those in previous articles on the subject. Claims made by the institutions were cross-checked against available information on the accreditation body or agencies’ websites.

Foreign medical colleges with valid accreditation from medical education accreditation bodies are given below.

Accreditation for colleges such as Armenian Russian International University Mkhitar Gosh, Armenia, and Friedrich Alexander Universität Erlangen Nürnberg Medizinische Fakultät, Germany, expired in 2023.

The accreditation of Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski Faculty of Medicine, Bulgaria is set to expire this year.

Country-wise MBBS abroad

Medical Colleges in China: Accreditation Status

China has the highest number of medical colleges with limited-validity accreditation. All of these 99 institutions have been accredited by the “Working Committee for the Accreditation of Medical Education”, a medical accreditation body in China.

Apparently, accreditation of 11 of these 99 medical colleges has already expired and Careers360 was unable to find evidence of a renewal online. Here’s the list:

Accreditation ended in 2020

• Changsha Medical University

Accreditation ended in 2021

• Guilin Medical University

• Norman Bethune University of Medical Sciences

• Norman Bethune College of Medicine at Jilin University

Accreditation ended in 2022

• Zhejiang Chinese Medical University

• Shenyang Medical College

• Qiqihar Medical University

• Gannan Medical University

Accreditation ended in 2023

• Wenzhou Medical University

• Guangdong Pharmaceutical University

• Chengde Medical University

Also check: FMGE: Why Armenia’s low-cost MBBS abroad is not as attractive as it sounds

Even though these colleges had lost their accreditation, 474 Indian students who studied there appeared for FMGE 2022. The highest number of candidates from this set of institutions had graduated from the Norman Bethune College Of Medicine Jilin University. As many as 109 graduates of this college wrote the FMGE 2022 but just 27.52% passed. At the other end of the spectrum, one graduate of Chengde Medical University appeared but failed.

The information on the validity of the remaining 88 medical colleges located in China is given below. Over 40 of these colleges will see their accreditation expire in 2024 and 2025, followed by 15 in 2026, and another 22 in 2027.

The accreditation validity of the remaining nine colleges will expire in 2028. The colleges are listed below.

Accreditation validity expiring in 2024

• Jiamusi University School Of Medicine

• Weifang Medical University

• Xiamen University School Of Medicine

• Jinan University School Of Medicine

• Capital Medical University

• Ningbo University Medical School

• Tianjin Medical University School Of Basic Medical Sciences

• Shihezi University School Of Medicine

• Tianjin Medical University Clinical Medical College

• Nanjing Medical University

• Jiujiang University Medical College

• Xinxiang Medical University

• Hubei University Of Medicine

• Shanxi Medical University

• Jianghan University School Of Medicine

• North China University Of Science And Technology College Of Medicine

• Hubei University Of Chinese Medicine First Clinical College

• Hainan Medical University

• Hebei North University Faculty Of Medicine

• Hubei University Of Science And Technology Faculty Of Medicine

• China Three Gorges University

• Hubei Medical University

• Hubei University Of Traditional Chinese Medicine

• Dalian Medical University

• North Sichuan Medical College

Accreditation validity expiring in 2025

• Luzhou Medical College

• Wuhan University School of Medicine

• Southern Medical University

• Hebei Medical University

• Kunming Medical University

• Southwest Medical University

• Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine

• Yunnan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

• Jinggangshan University Medical School

• Yichun University School of Medicine

• Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat Sen University

• Medical College of Wuhan University of Science and Technology

• Zhengzhou University

• Changchun University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

• Inner Mongolia University for the Nationalities

• Anhui Medical University Faculty of Medicine

• Xuzhou Medical University

• Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine

Colleges with accreditation validity expiring in 2026

• Soochow University Medical College

• Qingdao University College of Medical Science

• West China College of Medicine, Sichuan University

• Beihua University School of Medicine

• Nantong University Medical School

• Southeast University Medical College

• Guizhou Medical University

• Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine

• Guangzhou Medical University

• Suzhou Medical College

• West China University of Medical Sciences

• Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine

• Sichuan University

• Ningxia Medical University

• Nantong Medical College

Colleges with accreditation validity expiring in 2027

• Dali University School of Medicine

• Yangzhou University College of Medicine

• Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine

• Xinjiang Medical University

• Shandong First Medical University

• Jinzhou Medical University

• Jiangxi Medical College of Nanchang University

• Jiangsu University School of Medicine

• Shandong University Cheeloo College of Medicine

• Zhejiang University School of Medicine

• Taishan Medical University

• Medical College of Henan University of Science and Technology

• Fujian Medical University

• Nanchang University

• Tongji University School of Medicine

• Nanchang Medical University

• Henan Medical University

• University of Jinzhou

• Jiangxi Medical College

• Jilin Medical University

• Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

• International Education College Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine

Colleges with accreditation validity expiring in 2028

• Harbin Medical University

• Liaoning Medical University

• China Medical University

Colleges with accreditation validity expiring in 2029

• Chongqing Medical University

• Guangxi Medical University

• Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology

• Jiaxing University College of Medicine

• Shantou University Medical College

FMGE: Foreign Medical Colleges with No Accreditation

The St Tereza Medical University, Armenia, and the American International School Of Medicine are the only colleges which appear to have no accreditation or “accreditation denied” status. In an earlier piece on MBBS abroad, Careers360 had examined the case of Armenia and its medical colleges separately.

American International School Of Medicine, Guyana, was denied accreditation by Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions (CAAM-HP).

Despite this, these two colleges together had a total of 537 Indian students appearing for FMGE 2022.

MBBS Abroad: No Information on Accreditation

Russia, Ukraine and Nepal are among the top destinations for Indian students. 6,069 Indian graduates of Russian medical colleges had written FMGE 2022; 5,333 had studied in Ukraine and 1,611 in Nepal.

However, of the 218 foreign medical colleges for which Careers360 could find no information on accreditation, 54 medical institutions are in Russia, 31 in Ukraine and 22 in Nepal.

In the case of Russia, all medical colleges either appear to be accredited by the general accreditation body or there is not easily-accessible information at all. That said, in the case of many countries, websites and documents of regulators, accreditation and other bodies are not in English and could be harder to find through search engines on which English is the dominant language.

MBBS Abroad: Accreditation and ranking

Of the 218 colleges that appear to be unaccredited, 13 have been ranked by global higher education ranking agencies, such as the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), Times Higher Education (THE), Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), and Academic Ranking of World Universities (AWRU).

Bashkir State Medical University, Ryazan State Ivan Petrovich Pavlov Medical University Medical Faculty, and Saint Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University, all in Russia, participated in Times Higher Education (THE) Rankings 2023. But they did not meet the eligibility criteria for ranking and were therefore granted a 'Reporter' status. 166 Indian graduates of these universities wrote the FMGE 2022 and of them, 58 cleared it.

Given below are the universities, colleges or faculties that appear to have no valid accreditation but have been ranked by various ranking agencies, along with the number of their Indian graduates to write the FMGE 2022.

Ranked by QS 2023

The THE Rankings listed nine medical colleges with a total of xxxx Indian graduates to write the FMGE 2022.

Ranked by Times Higher Education 2023

The CWUR ranked seven but few Indian graduates of these institutions wrote the FMGE.

Ranked by CWUR 2023

The ARWU ranked just one institution. Only one Indian student of this medical college in Singapore appeared for the FMGE and they passed.

Ranked by ARWU 2023

Also read:

• FMGE pass percentage
• Full form of FMGE