Medical interns who fail to report to their assigned duty stations by Saturday, August 15, 2026, risk losing their internship placements, Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi has warned.
Baryomunsi issued the warning in Parliament on Wednesday, August 12, after Opposition Leader Joel Ssenyonyi raised concerns over the ongoing dispute between government and medical interns.
Ssenyonyi told Parliament that doctors and medical interns across the country could go on strike if government fails to resolve the issue of their facilitation.
He said he had received a letter from the President of the Uganda Medical Association warning stakeholders of a planned industrial action if the government does not address the concerns within 14 days.
The dispute follows government’s decision to scrap the Shs1 million payment previously provided to each medical student undertaking internship.
Baryomunsi said government is still consulting on the policy but insisted that interns should report to their assigned hospitals while the discussions continue.
He said interns who fail to report will be considered to have forfeited their placements.
The Minister said government has already held discussions with the interns and urged them not to be misled into refusing their deployments.
He also appealed for more time to allow consultations to be completed, assuring Parliament that government is committed to finding a solution.
“We appreciate the work that they do,” Baryomunsi said, urging the interns to avoid confrontational methods of resolving the dispute.
Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa urged the Minister to speed up the consultations and give Parliament a clear position on the matter.
Tayebwa asked Baryomunsi to take the issue to Cabinet on Monday and return to Parliament with a final position on Tuesday.
Under Uganda’s medical education and internship policy, medical students must complete a mandatory supervised clinical internship before they can receive their university degrees.
