What an FMAS means on a doctor's profile
The FMAS is a short laparoscopic-surgery course from a private institute — real hands-on training, but not a recognised qualification.
The FMAS — Fellowship in Minimal Access Surgery — is a short course in laparoscopic surgery run by private training institutes, most prominently the World Laparoscopy Hospital in Gurugram, and taken by qualified surgeons and gynaecologists who want to add or refresh laparoscopic skills. Courses run for days or weeks rather than years. It is genuine training, and it is common on the letterheads of gynaecologists and general surgeons across India; it is not a qualification any statutory body recognises, and it is not the two-year, examined FNB in minimal access surgery that the National Board awards.
On this site the FMAS is one of the most frequently recorded fellowships, chiefly on gynaecologists and general surgeons in Madhya Pradesh. It is shown after the qualifications; the MS, DGO, DNB or MD beside it is what licenses the surgery.
How to check whether a doctor holds an FMAS
- Read the register entryA doctor's record on the Indian Medical Register names the qualification the state medical council recorded at registration, and further qualifications where the doctor has had them added. If the doctor says they hold an FMAS and the register shows only the primary degree, the FMAS has not been registered — which is common and not by itself a warning, but it does mean the register cannot confirm it.
- Check the college was recognised for the courseThe NMC's College and Course Search lists which institutions are recognised for which courses. This applies to degrees and diplomas; a fellowship or membership awarded by a society is not a course the NMC recognises, and will not appear there.
- Ask the awarding body when it mattersThe society or college that awarded it can confirm a fellowship or membership; that is the only check available, and this site says so on the profile. On this site a qualification is marked verified only when it has been checked against the awarding body and the date is shown; otherwise it is marked as supplied.
110 doctors record an FMAS
1 of them (1%) have the qualification checked against the awarding body. The rest are recorded as supplied. Counts are read from the live database and refresh hourly.
Specialities they practise
- Gynaecologists · 46
- General surgeons · 44
- Surgical oncologists · 7
- GI surgeons · 4
- Urologists · 4
- Geriatricians · 2
Where they practise
Questions people ask
- Is an FMAS a recognised medical qualification in India?
- Not in the statutory sense. It is awarded by a college or society rather than a university, and it is not on the schedules of recognised qualifications the National Medical Commission maintains. It may still represent real training or examination; what it cannot do is stand in for a recognised degree or diploma, and on this site it is shown alongside the qualifications, never in place of them.
- Does an FMAS mean the surgeon is a laparoscopic specialist?
- It means the surgeon attended a laparoscopic training course. Skill in laparoscopy comes from the surgical degree, the years of practice and the hospital's case volume; the FMAS certificate is evidence of interest and some instruction, not of a specialist qualification.
Every profile lists its qualifications as supplied and says which of them have been checked against the awarding body and when. Where none has, the profile says so.
General information about medical qualifications in India, checked against the sources listed on 25 Sep 2026. Not advice about your situation. Errors can be reported through the corrections process.