ALLOWANCE ANXIETY! 2,290 Medical Pre-Interns Set for Deployment as Allowance Questions Refuse to Die

Uncertainty continues to surround whether medical interns will continue receiving government allowances following the proposed policy changes that seek to abolish them, as more than 2,000 pre-interns prepare to report to internship sites across Uganda next month.

According to the Ministry of Health’s internship deployment list, 2,290 pre-interns are expected to report in August. Kampala International University has the largest number of deployed interns, accounting for nearly a quarter of the total.

It is followed by Makerere University with 198 interns, King Ceasor University with 162, the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) with 110, and Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) with 86.

While the release of the deployment list has ended months of uncertainty over placements, pre-interns say the government’s silence on the issue of living allowances has left them anxious.

Dr Daniel Kirunda, a pre-intern, said the lack of communication from the government is deeply concerning, especially with only days remaining before the internship programme begins.

Kirunda noted that the year-long internship is highly demanding, leaving little or no opportunity for part-time work. Without financial support, he fears many interns will struggle to meet basic living expenses.

This year’s internship begins amid controversy over the proposed National Education and Training for Health Policy, which seeks to reform health professional training in Uganda. The Ministry of Health says the policy is intended to improve the quality of health education and strengthen the transition from classroom learning to professional practice.

Among its proposals are the introduction of a pre-internship examination and a requirement for medical and other health trainees to complete their mandatory internship before graduation. The proposed reforms also recommend scrapping internship allowances, an issue that has repeatedly triggered disputes and industrial action between health workers and the government.

Medical professionals and other stakeholders equally warned that the absence of allowances could undermine Uganda’s public healthcare system by making it difficult for young doctors to complete their training. Kirunda says the continued silence from the government has only heightened anxiety among interns preparing to begin their placements.

However, the Minister of Health, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, has sought to reassure the interns, saying the government has not made a final decision on the matter. He explained that he intends to present the outstanding policy issues, including the question of allowances, to Cabinet for consideration.

According to Baryomunsi, the government opted not to delay the internship programme while awaiting Cabinet’s decision, allowing deployments to proceed as scheduled in August. The minister has previously expressed support for maintaining intern allowances, acknowledging the critical role intern doctors play in sustaining healthcare services across the country.

Medical interns currently receive a monthly government allowance of one million Shillings. However, speaking during a media briefing on Tuesday, another pre-intern, Dr Silver Ssengonga, argued that the current stipend is inadequate given the workload and cost of living. He said a more realistic monthly allowance would be four million Shillings.

Ssengonga also referenced the unimplemented 2021 directive by President Yoweri Museveni, which proposed increasing intern doctors’ pay to about 2.4 million shillings per month, roughly half the salary earned by fully qualified medical officers.