Uganda’s doctors are pushing back hard against a new government policy on medical interns, saying it was rushed in without talking to the people it affects most.
Medical leaders met with the Uganda Law Society in Kampala and warned that the changes could damage medical training and weaken healthcare services across public hospitals.
The government’s new rules do two major things. First, medical students cannot graduate until they finish their internship. Second, internship allowances have been scrapped. For doctors and interns, that is a double blow.
Dr Frank Asiimwe, who heads the Uganda Medical Association, did not hold back. He called the policy “draconian, shambolic and dead on arrival”.
According to him, the move looks more like an attempt to frustrate medical workers than to support them.
UMA and other associations were never consulted before the decision was made, and Asiimwe insists they will keep fighting for a reversal.
He also pointed out a problem with how the policy treats training. Medical interns are in their sixth year and already working in hospitals, treating patients under supervision. Stopping them from graduating until internship ends interferes with the medical curriculum.
Asiimwe argues that interns are not just students. They are probationary officers who, by law, should earn 70 per cent of a full doctor’s salary. Removing their pay, he says, is both unethical and impractical.
Dr Jacob Mwandha, president of the Federation of Uganda Medical Interns, echoed the same concern. He is upset that government now refers to interns as “students”.
In his view, interns are qualified medical practitioners going through supervised training, and they play a key role in keeping hospitals running. Labeling them as students, he says, downplays their contribution and gives room for unfair treatment.
Mwandha is now calling for a dedicated law that spells out intern allowances, working hours, and conditions of service so their welfare is protected.
