Following growing concerns among medical students over changes to Uganda’s internship policy, the Minister of Health, Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, has clarified that students who have been studying under government sponsorship will continue receiving government support during their internship training.
The clarification comes days after reports suggesting that the government had scrapped facilitation for medical interns sparked anxiety among students and triggered discussions about possible industrial action.
Addressing journalists, Dr. Baryomunsi said there would be no disruption for government-sponsored students graduating from public universities such as Makerere University, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Gulu University, Kabale University, and other government institutions.
“Those who are on government sponsorship will proceed as usual with full support from the government. There is no disruption,” Baryomunsi said.
The minister noted that some information circulating on social media had created confusion regarding the implementation of the new internship framework.
He explained that the Cabinet has instead tasked the Ministry of Health with studying the financial implications of providing facilitation to students who undertake their training under private sponsorship, including those studying in private universities and privately sponsored students in public institutions.
According to Baryomunsi, discussions are ongoing on the possibility of the government providing lunch facilitation and other forms of support to enable privately sponsored interns to undertake their hospital training.
“The allegation that the government has completely scrapped facilitation for interns is not entirely accurate,” he said, adding that the ministry is working to resolve outstanding concerns surrounding the internship programme.
The clarification is expected to ease uncertainty among government-sponsored medical students who feared losing support during internship, while attention now shifts to how the government will handle facilitation for privately sponsored trainees.
The internship policy remains a subject of debate within the health sector as the government seeks to balance expanding internship opportunities with the financial realities of supporting a growing number of medical graduates each year.
