Over 1000 medical students have dragged the Minister of Health, Dr Ruth Aceng and the Attorney General to the High Court in Kampala challenging the new internship policy.
They claim the new internship policy restricts their access to supervised practical training at various centers.
Led by Emma Amadriyo, the group is also opposed to the introduction of new conditions set for internship that include a mandatory two year service at government health facility.
The medical students now want court to issue an order quashing the new guidelines and order for necessary arrangement to ensure that they are posted to internship/training centers to receive supervised practical training and paid the same emoluments as the former interns.
The group consists of prospective medical doctors, dental surgeons, pharmacists and nurses who ought to have been posted by the ministry of health in August 2016 to various internship centers country wide.
Supervised practical training is prerequisite for registration, enrolment, certification and licensure of qualified and recognized health professional.
On 7 September 2016, the Minister of Health announced a drastic reversal of the internship policy while appearing before Parliament’s Committee on Health to explain why there had been an unusual delay in posting the applicants to the various internship/training centers countrywide.
The new policy seeks to reduce the number of medical students who will henceforth be admitted on the ministry’s internship program and to vary the terms and conditions of service for an intern.
Story By Ruth Anderah
