Can I practise in Bangladesh without BMDC registration?

No. Under section 22(1) of the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council Act 2010, no medical or dental practitioner may practise allopathic medicine in Bangladesh, or present himself or herself as a medical or dental practitioner, without registration under that Act. A breach of sub-section (1) is an offence under section 22(2), punishable with three years' imprisonment, or a fine of one lakh taka, or both. This is Bangladesh's own rule, set by the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council Act 2010, and it applies to anyone who wants to practise there.

The registration steps for Bangladesh are covered in the licensing-exams section of this site.

The English wording in this article is this site's own translation of the Bengali text of the Act, as published on the Laws of Bangladesh site of the Ministry of Law.

What section 22 says

Section 22(1) states that, notwithstanding any other law, no medical or dental practitioner may practise allopathic medicine, or present himself or herself as a medical or dental practitioner, without registration under the Act.

Section 22(2) states that a person who contravenes sub-section (1) commits an offence, and is punishable with three years' imprisonment, or a fine of one lakh taka, or both.

How registration is reached

In outline, the Act provides the following path.

Section 18(1): for the purposes of the Act, the Council shall register professional and recognised medical practitioners, with their names and necessary particulars, in a register, and shall publish and preserve the register.

Section 18(2): for registration and entry in the register under sub-section (1), the concerned professional and recognised medical practitioner shall apply to the Council in the prescribed manner.

Section 18(3): after receiving an application under sub-section (2), if the Council considers the applicant medical practitioner eligible in light of the prescribed criteria and policy, the Council shall register the applicant and provide a registration certificate in the prescribed manner.

For a degree earned outside Bangladesh, section 12(3) applies. Under section 12(3), if a degree earned abroad is recognised by the medical council of that country, the applicant shall take the examination prescribed by the Council. An applicant who passes the examination is provisionally registered for an internship of the time prescribed by the Council.

The Council's forms, current procedure, examinations and list of recognised foreign institutions are not reproduced on this page; ask the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council for the current procedure.

Provisional registration under section 18 (as printed)

Section 18 also describes provisional registration. The section is reported here as printed, including its internal cross-references.

Section 18(4): the Council shall not, after a date fixed by it, register the name of any professional and recognised medical practitioner under sub-section (1) unless that practitioner— - has been provisionally registered under sub-section (4) and has subsequently completed an internship approved by the Council in a hospital approved for medical education; or - held such post or posts in an approved hospital which, in the Council's opinion, provided the experience of completing an internship.

Section 18(5): the Council shall, after a date fixed by it, provisionally register every person possessing a recognised medical education qualification and include that person in a separate part of the register kept under sub-section (1), if that person furnishes proof that they have been selected for a residential appointment in an approved hospital and that, by working in that capacity, they are on the whole fit to be considered a registered professional practitioner.

Section 18(6): a person provisionally registered under sub-section (4), upon being registered as a full professional practitioner under the Act, the Council shall remove that person's name from that separate part of the register.

Section 18(7): if a person provisionally registered under sub-section (4) works in the medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology departments anywhere other than an approved hospital, the Council may, after necessary inquiry in the prescribed manner, remove that person's name from the register until that person gives a proper undertaking that they will abstain from such work.

Note: as printed, sub-sections (4)(ক), (6) and (7) refer to provisional registration "under sub-section (4)", while provisional registration is described in sub-section (5). This page reports the text as printed and does not resolve that reference.

Related questions

Is a Chinese medical degree automatically recognised by the BMDC?

No. Section 12(1) of the Act requires that a medical qualification from an institution outside Bangladesh must be recognised by the Council under the Act before it can be used in Bangladesh. Section 12(1) to (4) names no specific foreign university; inclusion in the First or Second Schedule is by Council amendment under section 12(4). Whether a particular Chinese university's degree is recognised is a decision for the Council and is not stated in the Act text given here.

What must a Bangladeshi student with a foreign MBBS do to register?

Under section 12(3), if the foreign degree is recognised by the medical council of the country where it was earned, the applicant shall take the Council's prescribed examination. On passing, the applicant is provisionally registered for an internship of the time prescribed by the Council. The Bangladesh step after a foreign MBBS is also covered in our guide on the exam after MBBS in China. The Council's current examination procedure and forms are not on this page.

Does section 22 let me practise if I am registered in another country?

No. Section 22(1) says "notwithstanding any other law" and names no exception or foreign registration as a substitute for registration under the Act. A breach of sub-section (1) is punishable under section 22(2).

Sources

• Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council Act, 2010, section 22 — Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Bangladesh (Laws of Bangladesh)
• Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council Act, 2010, section 18 — Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Bangladesh (Laws of Bangladesh)
• Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council Act, 2010, section 12 — Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Bangladesh (Laws of Bangladesh)

Checked 11 October 2026.

This page is an unofficial summary, is not legal or professional-licensing advice, is not published by the bodies named, promises no admission, examination or registration outcome, and the official text and the regulator's own instructions prevail if they differ.