Museveni Urges Medical Interns to Fund Their Own Internships

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has advised medical interns to start sponsoring their internship process.

The President made the suggestion while addressing post-medical interns who had completed their 10-day patriotism and ideological training at the National Leadership Institute (NALI) in Kyankwanzi.

Over the last couple of weeks, a number of medical students have been protesting the Ministry of Health’s decision to deploy only a handful of their colleagues. Despite revealing that they would deploy a total of 2,500 students, the Ministry of Health sent out only 1,200 students. The decision left many students stranded, as internship is a mandatory process for qualification as a medical doctor.

“Who pays for the internship? Some people are saying that the government must pay, but I think that is risky because the government would pay if it had money, but it doesn’t have enough money since it has got a lot of things to do like roads, security, etc.” said Museveni.

Museveni’s proposal comes just a week after Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Joel Ssenyonyi, advised the government to prioritize deploying all the interns. This is because the interns are the core frontline officers in the medical fraternity, which boosts the government’s service delivery.

However, the President questioned the practice of putting the futures of doctors in jeopardy just because of the government’s shortcomings.

Museveni Advises Interns

“I don’t think it is okay to tie the future of our young doctors with government funding because it may delay or it may not be there. Why don’t we agree that a person who has qualified as a medical doctor after five years in medical school continues with the internship but with sponsorship from the person who sponsored him in the first place?” said President Kaguta.

To deploy all the interns, the government needed an extra shs 18 billion. Following their recent pay raise, each medical intern is entitled to a monthly gross salary of shs 1,300,000. With the Taxman taking off shs 300,000 of this, the interns net shs 1,000,000. Therefore, the cost of deploying one intern for one year, inclusive of all taxes, is shs 15.6 million.

President Museveni urged medical professionals to support his push for a budget increase to create more positions at Health Centres III and IV, absorbing more doctors. He also pledged financial support for qualified doctors to start private health facilities, as not all can be employed in government institutions.

“Joining the UPDF and police as medical professionals is music to my ears. You are still young and energetic. I can guarantee you, you are most welcome in the army and police anytime. Even now, I can recruit you here.”