Aspiring med interns need to promise they will work

LUCKNOW: Now medical students applying for internship in government hospitals will have to submit a written promise that they will work, else the hospital authorities can extend their internship period.

Balrampur hospital is the first to adopt this formality. Other hospitals in the state capital are likely to follow suit owing to absenteeism among intern doctors. “We assign particular duties to intern doctors and as they abstain from work, the assigned task (patients) suffers. This can not be tolerated,” said DR Rajiv Lochan, chief medical superintendent of Balrampur hospital, the first one to introduce such a provision for internship candidates.

Medical students who are native of Lucknow but study elsewhere, in or outside Uttar Pradesh, prefer to do internship in their hometown and therefore they apply in Balrampur, Civil and other government hospitals. But after joining, a majority of them skips duties. As hospitals assign them duties in different wards, the staff too is removed so that these students can take care of patients independently.

From now all internship candidates applying to Balrampur hospital will have to submit an affidavit too and promise that they will work for the entire internship period. “We hope this will weed out those who are here just for internship certificate and not willing to work. We do not want non-working interns,” said Dr Lochan.