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Bangladesh: foreign medical qualifications under sections 12, 18 and 22 of the BMDC Act

Sources checked · Unofficial summary

For a graduate medical degree that its holder wants to use in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council Act, 2010 (Act No. 61 of 2010) requires recognition by the Council under that Act (section 12(1)). Section 12(4) says the Council decides whether an applicant or institution is eligible for recognition, and this page cannot say whether any particular foreign degree is recognised. This page covers only sections 12, 18 and 22 of this Bangladeshi Act, which is the rule of Bangladesh's Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) for use in Bangladesh.

The English wording below is this site's own translation of the Bengali text of the Act, as published by the Laws of Bangladesh site of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. For the register's section on practising back home, see this register's section page.

Recognition of foreign degrees: section 12

Section 12 has four sub-sections. Sub-section (1) applies to a holder of a graduate-level medical degree from a medical institution located in Bangladesh or outside it. If that person wants to use the degree in Bangladesh, the degree must be recognised by the Council under this Act.

Sub-section (2) applies to a medical institution that gives a graduate-level medical degree, whether it is located in Bangladesh or outside it. If the institution's name is not in the First or Second Schedule, the institution, or the degree holder as the case may be, must apply to the Council to gain recognition of that qualification under this Act.

Sub-section (3) applies when the degree was obtained outside Bangladesh and the medical council of that country has recognised it. In that case, the applicant shall take an examination set by the Council. An applicant who passes that examination is provisionally registered for an internship of the period the Council sets.

Sub-section (4) applies after the Council receives an application under sub-sections (2) and (3). If the Council considers the applicant, or the applying institution as the case may be, eligible under the standards and policy set for this purpose, the Council shall include the institution's name with the qualification in the relevant schedule. It does so by amending the First or Second Schedule, as the case may be.

Section 12 does not set a fee, and the text gives no examination date or syllabus. The Council sets its own procedure, so ask the Council for the current procedure.

Register and provisional registration: section 18

Sub-section (1) says the Council registers professional and recognised medical practitioners and keeps the register. Sub-section (2) says the person must apply to the Council in the prescribed manner. Sub-section (3) says that after an application, the Council, if it considers the applicant eligible under the prescribed standards and policy, registers the applicant and issues a registration certificate in the prescribed manner.

Sub-section (4) applies after a date the Council fixes. The Council shall not register a practitioner under sub-section (1), unless the practitioner:

  • (a) was provisionally registered under sub-section (4) and then completed an internship approved by the Council at an approved hospital for medical education; or
  • (b) worked in posts at an approved hospital that, in the Council's view, gave experience of completing an internship.

Sub-section (5) applies after a date the Council fixes. The Council provisionally registers each person who holds a recognised medical qualification and places that person in a separate part of the register. This happens only if the person shows proof that he has been selected for residency at an approved hospital and, by holding that position, is considered on the whole eligible to be treated as a registered professional medical practitioner.

Sub-section (6) says that when a provisionally registered person is registered as a full professional practitioner under this Act, the Council removes that person's name from the separate part.

Sub-section (7) says that a provisionally registered person who works in medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology outside an approved hospital may have his name removed from the register by the Council. The Council does so by the prescribed procedure, after the necessary investigation, until he submits a suitable undertaking that he will refrain from such work.

Sub-section (8) says that a registered or provisionally registered person who acquires a postgraduate medical qualification listed in the Third Schedule may apply, and the Council then adds that qualification to his name in the register.

One drafting point appears in the text as published. Clause (a) of sub-section (4), sub-section (6) and sub-section (7) refer to provisional registration "under sub-section (4)". Sub-section (5) is the provision that describes provisional registration. This page reports the text as printed and does not resolve the reference.

Practising without registration: section 22

Sub-section (1) applies notwithstanding any other law. Under it, no medical practitioner or dental practitioner may practise allopathic medicine without registration under this Act. Nor may such a practitioner identify himself as a medical practitioner or, as the case may be, a dental practitioner without that registration.

Sub-section (2) says that a breach of sub-section (1) is an offence. The penalty is imprisonment for three years, or a fine of one lakh taka, or both.

Section Sub-section Subject
12 (1) Recognition of a graduate medical degree for use in Bangladesh
12 (2) Application to the Council when the institution is not in the First or Second Schedule
12 (3) Examination and provisional registration for a degree recognised by the medical council of the country where it was obtained
12 (4) Council's decision on eligibility and inclusion in the schedule
18 (1)–(3) Register, application and registration certificate
18 (4)–(8) Date-based conditions, provisional registration and postgraduate qualifications
22 (1)–(2) Practice without registration and the penalty

Questions people ask

Does a foreign medical degree have to be recognised by the Council before it is used in Bangladesh?

Section 12(1) of the Act says that a holder of a graduate-level medical degree, from a medical institution located in Bangladesh or outside it, who wants to use that degree in Bangladesh must have it recognised by the Council under this Act.

Can an applicant be provisionally registered?

Section 18(5) provides for provisional registration in a separate part of the register, after a date the Council fixes. It applies to a person who holds a recognised medical qualification and shows proof that he has been selected for residency at an approved hospital. The Council decides whether that person is eligible.

Can a person practise allopathic medicine in Bangladesh without registration?

Section 22(1) says that, notwithstanding any other law, no medical or dental practitioner may practise allopathic medicine without registration under this Act. Section 22(2) makes a breach of that rule an offence, punishable by three years of imprisonment, or one lakh taka in fine, or both.

Sources

Checked 11 October 2026.

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

MBBS Register Desk