Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi has called for a review of the government’s position on medical interns’ allowances, signalling growing internal disagreement over a policy that has sparked national debate.
Speaking during a Saturday interview on Capital FM, Baryomunsi said he had missed the earlier Cabinet discussion on the matter but firmly supported continued financial support for interns, especially those in privately sponsored medical training programmes.
“I missed this Cabinet debate while away, but as someone who did internship, private interns must be paid. The workload in our referral & district hospitals is heavy and full-time. I’m engaging the President to re-table this; we must find the money to fund all interns,” he said.
His remarks come amid controversy surrounding a new policy under Uganda’s education and health training framework, which reclassifies internship as a continuation of academic training rather than salaried employment.
Under the proposal, government funding would primarily support state-sponsored interns, while privately sponsored trainees would be expected to cater for their own costs.
According to government communication, Cabinet recently approved the National Education and Training for Health Policy, which restructures internship placement and financing.
The policy also revisits cost areas such as meals and facilitation within the Ministry of Health system.
“Medical internship isn’t a post-graduate choice; it’s a strict, mandatory legal requirement for doctors, nurses, and pharmacists to get licensed,” Baryomunsi noted. “These interns aren’t just learning; they are running the frontline services of our entire healthcare system.”
The Ministry of Health Ministry of Health Uganda has defended the reforms, arguing that the changes are intended to align internship with academic training models and manage increasing fiscal pressure as more medical graduates enter the system each year.
However, Baryomunsi’s intervention has reopened debate within government circles, with his comments suggesting a possible policy reassessment.
He stressed that intern doctors remain critical to service delivery in overstretched referral and district hospitals, where staffing gaps are persistent.
“I’m engaging the President to re-table this,” he added, indicating that discussions at the highest level of government are ongoing.
The proposal to end or reduce internship allowances has already faced resistance from opposition leaders, health worker associations, and medical unions, who argue that interns play a central role in patient care and should not be treated as unpaid trainees.