NEW DELHI: Foreign medical graduates who studied partly online will have to undergo mandatory hands-on clinical training before practising in India, as the National Medical Commission (NMC) tightens registration norms.In a public notice – issued on March 18 – NMC has made it clear that online medical education cannot substitute real-world clinical exposure and must be compensated through physical training.The move follows months of confusion among students and state medical councils over eligibility, especially for students who returned to India mid-course and finished their studies online, including those from conflict-hit regions such as Ukraine. Under the revised norms, students who attended online classes in their final or penultimate years will have to bridge this gap through clinical clerkship in India – a period of supervised, hands-on training in hospitals where students work with doctors and treat patients. The duration will vary based on the stage at which online learning occurred, effectively linking the length of training to the extent of missed in-person education.At the same time, the commission has offered some relief. Students whose foreign universities certify that the online teaching has already been compensated through additional physical classes, extended course duration or integrated internship, may not need to undergo further training in India, provided they submit proper documents.