In a letter dated 10th December 2021, Dr. Henry Mwebesa the Director General Health Services at the Ministry of Health ordered all medical interns working in government hospitals to vacate the facilities this week to pave the way for pre-interns starting next year.
This was after interns declared a strike on November 6 2021 and have since then vowed not to return to the hospitals until their allowances are increased from Ug shs 750,000 to Ug shs 2.5 million which President Museveni agreed to grant though the Interns have not received the share.
According To RX Radio presenter and Fatboy Show host Olive, the Interns have legit reasons to request for an increment since they are already practicing as medical practitioners.
“When I had a conversation on this program with the head of the Uganda Medical Association, he clarified that medical interns are not students but doctors that are just getting one year of hands-on skills. So they are providing a service and need to be paid for it and deciding to fire them is a worthless threat,” she said.
James Onen aka Fatboy, also the co-host, however wondered how the interns would be able to complete their school program if they haven't completed their internship, and asked if they would be able to graduate as qualified medical doctors.
In her response, Olive noted that the Director General asked the intern doctors to get other ways to complete their programs but not from the government hospitals even though most of the medical schools are owned by the government.
“But why do that? Like meet these people at the table and try to meet them halfway, rather than resorting to threats and firing them because they are asking for something,” Olive recommended.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive, Sarah and Lesham every weekday from 6am to 10am on RX Radio.
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