Over 1000 medical students have dragged the Minister of Health, Dr Ruth Aceng and the Attorney General to High Court challenging the new internship policy that allegedly restricts their access to supervised practical training at various internship training centers.
The interns, led by Hakim Senkubuge, Christine Nambi, Simon Peter Masela, Emma Amadriyo, Gatrude Ahimbisibwe and Simon want Court to issue an order setting aside these new guidelines.
They are also seeking to be posted to internship training centers to receive supervised practical training on top of receiving same emoluments as it was the case with all the previous interns.
The group consists of prospective Dental surgeons, pharmacists medical doctors and nurses who ought to have been posted by the ministry of health in August 2016 to various internship centers country wide to commence supervised practical training which is a pre-requisite for registration, enrollment, certification and licensure of a qualified and recognized health professional.
While appearing before the parliamentary Health Committee earlier this month Dr. Aceng announced a drastic reversal of the internship policy and also explained why there had been an unusual delay in posting medical interns to their various internship/training centers countrywide.
This new policy is intended to reduce on the number of medical students who will be admitted on the ministry’s internship programme and to vary the terms and conditions of service.