Responding to public pressure and outcry, the Ministry of Health in Uganda has announced that deployment of medical interns to different health centers across the country will start next week.
The decision marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing advocacy by medical students and the healthcare community, who have been pushing for swift action to address the internship placement issue.
However, government maintains that it has no sufficient funds to deploy an overwhelming number of 2,000 medical interns at once.
Making matters worse, the Ministry has significantly slashed the monthly earnings of these interns from UGX 2.5 million, to only UGX 1 million.
In a letter to the interns leadership, the Commisioner for Health Services in the Health Ministry Dr. Henry Mwebesa noted that the Ministry has remitted the funds, but each intern will only receive UGX 1 million per month, to cater for feeding and accommodation.
This arrangement according to the Ministry will start on August 3rd, 2023 and Dr. Mwebesa cautioned heads of different health centers in the country to cooperate constructively with government.
A total amount of UGX 80 billion is needed to cater for monthly allowances of all these junior medical personnel, but government through the Ministry of Finance allocated only UGX. 23 billion to the plight of interns.
Dr. Alex Luswata, one of the pre-medical interns and also their leader reacted to the announcement with optimism, saying the developments bring hope to interns, who were seriously confused on the next course of action after seating home idly for long.
“For us Medical interns who were supposed to begin our internship on 3rd April numbered up to 1901, and its only these ones that government has catered for and will be deployed in August, but our colleagues who are a year behind us, those that have just completed their exams, are still seated at their homes and it is believed that they will seat and wait until we finish, to get deployed,” Dr. Luswata said.
He however expressed alarm over the act of slashing the funds that were meant to cater for their monthly allowances, with out first consulting the interns fraternity.
“Slashing the monthly allowances from UGX 2.5 million to 1 million is quiet absurd. Government is not treating us well in that regard, so we will seat down with other leaders and determine the next course of action,” he added.
These developments which have provoked consternation among medics come at a time, when healthcare workers under their umbrella body, Uganda Medical Association (UMA) warned government that they will take to industrial action starting August 1st this year, should it fail to hastily deploy these interns in various health centers.
UMA had warned in late June that the delayed deployment of interns might lead to the collapse of the country’s medical sector.
Medical interns are required to engage in supervised medical work for a duration of one year, commonly known as a medical internship. This mandatory stage is essential for all graduated medical doctors, nurses, and pharmacists worldwide.
Throughout this period, registered medical personnel receive comprehensive medical training and care for patients, but always under the supervision of experienced seniors from various disciplines. Upon completing their internship, they become fully licensed professionals.
In Uganda, a significant number of recently graduated medical students, also known as pre-interns, successfully completed their education in May 2022 and February 2023.
However, they have been waiting at home for either 12 months or three months, depending on when they finished their studies. They eagerly await the opportunity to join a medical internship, which is necessary for them to work under mandatory supervision, obtain their full licenses, and begin their independent medical careers.
The shortage of doctors in Uganda is a pressing issue, with a ratio of one doctor to 20,000 patients. To address this gap, junior house officers and senior house officers, as stated by medical professionals, play a crucial role in providing healthcare services.
Medical professionals are urging the government to take proactive measures in enrolling the current cohort of pre-medical interns into hospitals.
This move will not only contribute to the improvement of healthcare services but also fulfill one of the essential requirements for their full qualification.
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