Where do I do my internship during MBBS in China?

Under China's standard for international students studying medicine in mainland China, the graduation internship (毕业实习) is done either in the school's teaching hospital or in a teaching hospital recognised by a foreign health authority, for one academic year of not less than 48 weeks (Article 13(3), Interim Provisions on Quality Control Standards for Undergraduate Medical Education in English for International Students, annex 1 to 教外来〔2007〕39号, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China). The school must keep track of the internship, and the student must sit the school's graduation examination afterwards. For students from India who intend to practise medicine in India, the National Medical Commission (India) sets a separate rule on where the internship must be done; that rule is stated below.

This site's course and internship page gives the short answers on course length and the degree.

China's standard: where the internship year is done

Article 13(3) of the 2007 standard (Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China) sets the following for the graduation internship:

• Time: one academic year, not less than 48 weeks.
• Place: the school's teaching hospital, or a teaching hospital recognised by a foreign health authority.
• The school shall strictly follow its teaching plan to set the internship content and requirements, and must keep track of the graduation internship.
• After the internship ends, the international student must sit the graduation examination of the school they attend.

The English wording used above is this site's translation of the Chinese text of the 2007 standard.

Clinical clerkships (临床见习) are a separate phase completed during the course. Article 13(2) states that clinical clerkships shall be completed in the school's affiliated hospital or teaching hospital. Article 28 requires the clinical teaching base for international students' clinical teaching and internship to be an affiliated hospital or a teaching hospital (Grade III Class A hospital), and the ratio of beds the hospital provides for undergraduate international students' clinical teaching and internship to the number of international students shall meet China's relevant provisions for medical undergraduates.

India's rule for its students

For students from India who intend to practise medicine in India, the National Medical Commission (India)'s Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations, 2021 (Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4, 18 November 2021) set the place of the internship.

Regulation 4(a)(ii) requires the foreign medical graduate to have undergone an internship for a minimum duration of twelve months in the same foreign medical institution.

Schedule I, paragraph 2(iii) states that the entire course, training and internship or clerkship shall be done outside India in the same foreign medical institution throughout the course of study, and no part of medical training and internship shall be done in India or in any country other than the country from where the primary medical qualification is obtained.

The Commission's FAQ Q11 repeats this: foreign medical graduates are not allowed to take transfer to an Indian medical college for internship and exams. FAQ Q17 states that internship/clerkship is separate from clinical posting and training during the 54 months of the MBBS course.

Under regulation 5, these 2021 regulations do not apply to foreign medical graduates who had acquired a foreign medical degree, or were already pursuing their education in a foreign institution, before the regulations came into force on 18 November 2021 (per FAQ Q2 and Q4); such students are governed by the earlier applicable regulations.

China's wording and India's wording, placed side by side

China's Article 13(3) allows the internship to be arranged in a teaching hospital recognised by a foreign health authority, in addition to the school's own teaching hospital. India's regulation 4(a)(ii) and Schedule I, paragraph 2(iii) require the internship to be done in the same foreign medical institution, with no part in India or in a third country.

This page sets the two wordings next to each other and does not resolve the difference. Whether a given placement meets India's condition is decided by the Indian authorities.

Provision	Document	Place of internship
Article 13(3)	Interim Provisions on Quality Control Standards for Undergraduate Medical Education in English for International Students (MoE China, 2007)	School's teaching hospital, or a teaching hospital recognised by a foreign health authority
regulation 4(a)(ii) and Schedule I, paragraph 2(iii)	Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations, 2021 (NMC India)	Same foreign medical institution; no part in India or another country

Related questions

Does the clinical clerkship count as the internship?

No. Under China's standard, clinical clerkships (临床见习) are completed during the course in the school's affiliated or teaching hospitals (Article 13(2)), while the graduation internship (毕业实习) is a later one-academic-year phase after the course (Article 13(3)). India's FAQ Q17 likewise states that internship/clerkship is separate from clinical posting and training during the 54 months of the MBBS course.

Must Indian students also intern in India?

Yes, in addition to the foreign internship. FAQ Q14 states that, besides the twelve-month internship in the same foreign medical institution, foreign medical graduates are required to undergo a supervised internship in India for a minimum term of twelve months. Regulation 4(c) requires a supervised internship in India for a minimum term of twelve months after applying to the Commission.

Sources

• Interim Provisions on Quality Control Standards for Undergraduate Medical Education in English for International Students (annex 1 to 教外来〔2007〕39号) — Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China
• National Medical Commission (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, 2021 — National Medical Commission, India
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): FMGs covered by National Medical Commission (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, 2021 — National Medical Commission, India (Undergraduate Medical Education Board)

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.