The Ministry of Health (MoH) has started the process of deploying 1,270 interns to various healthcare facilities nationwide.
On Thursday, March 22, Adan Harakhe, the Director at the State Department of Public Health and Professional Standards oversaw the distribution of release letters to 1,270 Diploma Clinical Officer Interns selected from a pool of 3,752 across 6 cadres.
In a statement on Thursday, March 22 MoH said the event held at Afya House marked the commencement of their mandatory practical training.
“Internship entails a one-year hands-on training for Clinical Officers, supplemented by six months of specialized training upon completion of the Higher Diploma, ensuring compliance with legal requirements for practice after graduation,” the statement read.
In the statement, Harakhe reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to ensuring seamless healthcare services delivery.
He vowed to review the existing internship policies to ensure graduates provide high-quality healthcare services as mandated by the Constitution of Kenya 2010.
On his part, Dr Sultani Matendechero, the Deputy Director General for Health, emphasized the importance of health promotion and disease prevention during internships.
This comes after Health CS Susan Nakhumicha announced that the Ministry will start posting medical interns from the beginning of April.
Health Cabinet Secretary, Susan Nakhumicha had earlier in the week announced that the Ministry of Health will start posting medical interns from April 1, 2024.
Nakhumicha Reveals Medical Interns Posting Dates
Speaking on March 18, Nakhumicha said the Ministry had received communication from the National Treasury regarding the disbursement of funds for posting of the interns.
“We have briefed the union and agreed that we have now received confirmation from the Treasury and beginning April 1, which is in two weeks’ time we are going to start posting all the interns,” she said.
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Additionally, she stated that the Kenya Medical Dentists and Practitioners Union (KMPDU) will take part in the ongoing review of the internship policy.
“We will review the internship policy to ensure that it aligns with the Universal Health Coverage, and it addresses all the emerging issues that we have had,” Nakhumicha said.
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Doctors Union Reacts to Nakhumicha’s Remarks
An adamant KMPDU Secretary General Davji Atella, however, said they were not in agreement with the government on the new draft industrial policy.
He explained that the agreement must be made based on the current CBA framework as directed by the court.
“We were in a consultative consultation with the government, and we are not in any agreement with a new industrial policy, since we haven’t even been shown the new draft policy, therefore we insist that any new posting of medical interns must be pegged on the current CBA,” he said.
Atella further criticized the government’s intentions to drop the salaries of doctors and medical interns under the new proposed CBA regulations.
He revealed regular attempts by the Salary and Remunerations Commissions (SRC) to scrap off non-practicing allowances in a bid to lower doctors and interns’ salaries.
