And I must say I feel their pain, as I once suffered the same. From 2 interviews at LASUTH to finally taking up a no-pay internship in a Military hospital' We did go on strike but got fired for pulling that move. After that was a series of pleas to get re-instated.
Anyway, let's hope this new social media outcry will get to the President's good ear and something will be done.
Don't forget this same hashtag #RegulateMedicalInternship trended in 2015 and nothing was corrected (but let's see how it goes this time).
Read the complaints listed by the Nigerian Prospective Medical Interns below:
i. Failure of centres accredited for the training to fully meet the quotas allocated to them despite having been deemed capable of training such numbers of interns every year.
ii. Heavy interference by politicians and society elites.
iii. Nepotism is now the order of the day in the selection process, thereby constantly leaving out those who have no one to project them.
iv. Extortion of money by some centres in the name of registration/interview fees.
v. Tribalism/ethnic discrimination in the selection process, resulting in several futile trips and wastage of resources.
vi. Bribery and corruption in the current system. Some centres now sell the slots at varying prices to the frustrated prospective interns across the nation.
vii. Multiple placements for the well/highly connected when several others are yet to secure any.
viii. Endangering our lives on the Nigerian roads. This is so, as every prospective intern/house officer embark on long distance journey to any state across the nation when any hospital calls for recruitment. Most times, those travelling from very far locations will have to embark on night trips to be able to make it to an interview.
ix. Regrettable loss of lives from road accidents. The incidence of this sad fate, which should not be that of the prospective nigerian intern, is on the rise.
x. Periodic (yearly or two-yearly) payment of fees for the renewal of licenses issued at graduation/induction upon failure to personally secure the internship placement before the expiry date on the previously issued license. We see this as nothing but a form of extortion and unfair treatment of a prospective intern.
I bet it sounds very familiar if you've done your internship, so please join the movement #RegulateMedicalInternship and tell your friends too.
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