Minister Baryomunsi reaffirms Medical Interns' deployment
Baryomunsi revealed that during an impromptu inspection of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, intern doctors were carrying much of the clinical workload, underscoring their importance in delivering healthcare services.
Health minister Dr. Chris Baryomunsi said the government had listened to concerns raised by medical interns and other stakeholders over the policy and would present a cabinet paper to review contentious provisions.
KAMPALA - The Ministry of Health has announced that medical interns will be deployed as scheduled, offering reassurance to hundreds of graduates who had feared delays over changes introduced under the policy.
Health minister Dr. Chris Baryomunsi said the government had listened to concerns raised by medical interns and other stakeholders over the policy and would present a cabinet paper to review contentious provisions.
However, he stressed that deployment would continue while the review process was underway.
“The deployment of the interns shall continue as programmed, but we are looking at that policy. We are going to prepare a cabinet paper, and I will take it to the cabinet to examine that policy. We shall sort it either way, so they should not be worried,” Baryomunsi said during a televised national address on the state of Uganda's health sector on July 13.
The assurance comes after uncertainty followed a policy approved by the Ministry of Education and Sports, which classified internships as part of medical training.
Under the policy, students sponsored by the government would continue receiving government sponsorship during internships, while privately sponsored students would continue financing their own internship training.
Baryomunsi acknowledged the public concerns, saying the government was reviewing the policy to address outstanding issues while ensuring health services are not disrupted.
The minister encouraged medical interns to remain calm as discussions continue.
Baryomunsi revealed that during an impromptu inspection of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, intern doctors were carrying much of the clinical workload, underscoring their importance in delivering healthcare services.
He said he found only four intern doctors working in emergency surgery, two in emergency medicine, and one in the labour ward, despite the hospital having about 40 medical interns.
“They have 40 medical interns in Mbarara, but only five were working in the hospital. Even the few health workers there need to be deployed better, but those are administrative issues that we shall fix with the hospital,” he said.
He said the government is reviewing broader health workforce policies, including recruitment of more specialists and improving deployment of existing staff, to strengthen service delivery in public hospitals.
Permanent Secretary Dr. Diana Atwine also confirmed that the government had not abandoned discussions on the internship policy and would continue engaging relevant authorities while ensuring newly qualified doctors begin their placements on time.
“The policy was by government. However, there are areas in the policy that we are looking at, and we shall go back and engage. We are fully aware of their concerns, and we are going back to the executive to present those areas we believe are bottlenecks in implementing the policy,” Atwine said.
She said delaying deployment would only worsen staffing shortages in hospitals, adding that interns are expected to report for duty in August.
“In order not to lose time because they are supposed to be deployed in August, we could deploy the interns while at the same time continuing the discussions and engagement,” Atwine said.
Uganda has for years relied heavily on medical interns to support patient care in public hospitals, particularly regional referral hospitals that continue to grapple with shortages of doctors, nurses, and specialists.
Baryomunsi said the ongoing review aimed to ensure internship arrangements remain sustainable while safeguarding the country's health workforce and maintaining uninterrupted healthcare services.