Baryomunsi confirms scrapping medical internship allowances

Medical interns will not be facilitated by the government, the Ministry of Health designate Dr Chris Baryomunsi has confirmed.

Dr Baryomunsi explained that government has considered the facilitation of medical interns as "unsustainable" due to growing number of students undergoing training in various institutions.

He added that cabinet resolved to consider internship as professional training similar to legal apprenticeships.

"The issue is that there are now many training institutions producing doctors. So the question is: whom do you pay? Internship is not employment per se; it is a continuation of training. It is just a period when you are strengthening your clinical skills the way lawyers go to the Law Development Center so that they can become very competent in working as lawyers," he argued.

Uganda Medical Association president Dr Frank Asiimwe described the resolution as unacceptable and unethical given the nature of the working conditions.

"We have given our first stand, the new proposed internship policy to make a section of doctors work for free is simply unacceptable, it's betrayal, it's unethical, it's inhuman," he said before adding.

"Our stand is that the Ministry of Health should recorrect their position on wanting a section of doctors to offer free labour. Medical interns are not students but graduate officers who offer frontline health care to Ugandans."

According to Ministry of Health budget figures, Uganda currently spends approximately UGX 35.7 billion annually on medical interns and Senior House Officers (SHOs). This funding supports around 2,329 healthcare trainees deployed in public health facilities nationwide.

Each intern receives approximately Shs1m per month as an allowance, while additional funds cover statutory obligations and administrative costs.