Working as a Doctor in India: Registration, FMGE and NEET-PG

India trains and employs doctors on a very large scale, and its rules for medical practice are set nationally. Whether you are an Indian MBBS graduate planning your next step, an Indian or OCI doctor returning with a foreign degree, or a student deciding where to study, the same two bodies shape your path: the National Medical Commission (NMC), which regulates education, ethics and registration, and the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), which runs the key national exams.

This guide explains who does what, how registration works, the route for foreign graduates, specialist training through NEET-PG, costs, timelines and the mistakes that delay doctors most often.

Key facts

The health system in brief

Doctors in India work across a public sector run by the central government, states and union territories, and a large private sector of hospitals, clinics and medical colleges. Postgraduate training seats exist in both government and private colleges, and admission to almost all of them runs through one national exam, NEET-PG. Health is largely a state subject in day-to-day administration, which is why State Medical Councils and state counselling authorities matter alongside the national bodies.

Who regulates what

National Medical Commission

The NMC replaced the old Medical Council of India framework when the 2019 Act came into force. Its stated aims include making quality medical education accessible and affordable, ensuring enough well-trained doctors across the country, assessing medical institutions transparently, maintaining a national medical register, enforcing ethical standards and providing a grievance mechanism.

It works through four autonomous boards:

Read more in our profile of the National Medical Commission.

State Medical Councils

State Medical Councils register doctors in their state and receive FMGE results together with the NMC. When you apply for registration, you deal with the NMC system and the council of the state where you plan to work.

NBEMS

NBEMS is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It conducts the FMGE, NEET-PG and other exams, and it runs DNB postgraduate training. For NEET-PG, its role ends once it hands results to the counselling authorities.

Pathway 1: Indian MBBS graduates

1. Complete the MBBS course at an NMC-recognised college.
2. Complete the compulsory rotating internship.
3. Register with the NMC system and your State Medical Council.
4. Practise as a registered medical practitioner, or sit NEET-PG for specialist training.

Pathway 2: Indian citizens and OCIs with a foreign medical degree

This is the route most affected by recent rule changes.

1. Before you study abroad, make sure you qualify NEET-UG (mandatory for anyone who started a foreign medical degree from May 2018) and check that the course meets current NMC rules for foreign medical graduates. Candidates who started on or after 18 November 2021 fall under these newer regulations.
2. Graduate and have your qualification confirmed by the Indian Embassy as recognised for practice in the country that awarded it.
3. Pass the FMGE. It has 300 questions in two parts on one day, no negative marking, and you need 150 of 300. There is no limit on attempts.
4. Collect the Screening Test Pass Certificate after in-person verification of your biometric data and documents.
5. Complete the internship the NMC requires in India.
6. Register with the NMC/State Medical Council.

Full details are in the FMGE guide.

Exemption: doctors with an undergraduate medical degree from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK or the USA plus a postgraduate qualification from one of those countries, who are recognised to practise there, do not need the FMGE.

Pathway 3: foreign nationals

Foreign nationals who want to practise in India face separate NMC rules. Requirements depend on the case, so check the NMC's current notices before making plans. Foreign nationals seeking PG admission must also sit NEET-PG.

Specialist training through NEET-PG

NEET-PG is the single eligibility-cum-entrance exam for MD, MS and PG Diploma courses. Its result counts for All India quota seats, state quota seats, private and deemed university seats, Armed Forces Medical Services seats and post-MBBS DNB seats. AIIMS, PGIMER, JIPMER, NIMHANS and SCTIMST run separate admission for MD/MS.

Key points for NEET-PG 2026:

After the result, the Medical Counselling Committee handles All India quota counselling and state authorities handle state quota seats. Read the NEET-PG guide and How to Prepare for NEET-PG.

Which route applies to you

FMGE and NEET-PG compared

The two NBEMS exams are often confused, but they answer different questions. The FMGE asks whether a foreign graduate may register at all; NEET-PG ranks registered doctors for postgraduate seats.

A foreign graduate usually sits both: first the FMGE to register, later NEET-PG to specialise.

Document checklist

Whichever route you take, these documents come up again and again:

• MBBS degree or provisional pass certificate, and transcripts.
• Internship completion certificate, with exact start and end dates.
• Registration certificate from the NMC or your State Medical Council.
• For foreign graduates: the qualification apostilled or attested by the Indian Embassy, the embassy's confirmation of recognition, proof of the result date, and the NEET-UG scorecard or Eligibility Certificate.
• Proof of citizenship or OCI status.
• Category certificates, if you apply under a reserved category for NEET-PG.
• Photographs and signatures that meet each bulletin's image rules.

Make sure your name is spelled the same way on every document. Mismatches between passport, degree and registration records are a common reason for delays at verification and counselling.

Costs

As of October 2026, the main exam fees were:

Registration fees are set by the NMC and State Medical Councils and vary by state. Add costs for document attestation, travel for exams and verification, and counselling deposits where they apply. Fees can change with each bulletin.

How long it takes

The biggest delays usually come from missing a session's cut-off date or from incomplete documents, not from the exams themselves.

Language

Both the FMGE and NEET-PG are held in English only. Clinical work in India also involves the local language of your state, which matters for history taking and patient communication even though there is no formal language test for registration of Indian graduates.

Working conditions

Pay, hours and contracts differ widely between central and state government posts, teaching hospitals and private hospitals. We do not quote salary figures here, because there is no single official national figure that applies across states and sectors. Check the pay scales published by the employer or state government you are applying to.

Typical mistakes

• Choosing a foreign university without checking NMC rules. A course that does not meet the conditions can make you ineligible for the FMGE.
• Assuming NExT is already in force. As of October 2026, FMGE and NEET-PG continue; rely on official NMC notices.
• Missing cut-off dates. The FMGE result cut-off and the NEET-PG internship cut-off both remove candidates every year.
• Following unofficial schedules. Only NBEMS and NMC notices count.
• Skipping verification after the FMGE. No verification, no pass certificate.
• Planning PG without checking which institutes NEET-PG covers. AIIMS and some others are separate.

Next steps

1. Decide which pathway applies to you.
2. Read the current bulletin on the NBEMS website for your exam.
3. Gather and attest your documents early.
4. Build a daily practice routine. The MediFlow Exam Prep app offers timed question sets for NEET-PG and FMGE preparation.
5. Track NMC notices for internship and registration rules for your batch.