Undeployed medical interns petition Museveni 

Undeployed medical interns have petitioned President Museveni, seeking his intervention in resolving the crisis that has left 1,327 medical interns without deployment.

They handed in their petition to President Museveni during the commemoration of the National Youth Day on Monday at Asuret Primary Teachers College in Soroti District.

Mr Joseph Socrates Odongo, a pre-interns coordinator, told the Monitor that while internship is a mandatory part of medical training, it's surprising and unfortunate that out of 2,706 applicants, only 1,263 were deployed, leaving 1,327 medical pre-interns in a hopeless state.

“It is only after internship that we get fully registered and licensed or employed professionally. Although the Ministry of Health recommends a ratio of 1 specialist per 4 interns during training, many sites have a ratio of almost 1 specialist to 1 intern just because government is hesitant to deploy us,” he explained.
 
Mr Allan Kerim, another pre-intern, said: "Not all medical interns require specialists for their training. These are nurses, pharmacists and midwives, therefore the subject of a lesser number of specialists is not plausible and should not impede our deployment. We humbly request that you direct the Ministry of Health to deploy the remaining 1,327 medical interns."

The interns also demanded supplementary funding of Shs18 billion to cater for their deployment and requested a meeting with the President to discuss the matter in detail.

State Minister of Health in charge of general duties Ms Anifa Kawooya Bangirana, in an August 6, 2024 letter to the Speaker of Parliament, explained that the ministry maintains a standard of one specialist supervising four medical interns to ensure effective knowledge transfer and skills development.

“Due to the enormous pressure to deploy all the interns last year, we deployed an excessive number of interns (1,901) that overwhelmed the system. This created a lot of challenges with some trainers having to supervise 5-6 medical interns,” she explained.
 
“The placement covers graduates who completed their courses in early 2023 and before. Consideration has been made for dental surgeons and pharmacists (only government sponsored) of cohort 2024 because these cadres are in short supply in the market,” Ms Kawooya added.

According to her, the ministry received an allocation of Shs35B for the current financial year to cover the costs of medical interns and senior house officers. She noted that the total cost of deploying one intern for a year, including allowances and PAYE tax, amounts to Shs15M.
 
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