Dilemma during internship !

I have had years of association with interns, who are in their one year post M.B.B.S. training period, before they are certified to practice.  They have impressed me with their willingness to be actively involved in hospital routine and learn from participating in the treatment process and care of patients. Most interns pick up several practical skills necessary for doctors to learn, during this one year period. 

I have been encouraged by the attitude of most interns to take this practical training seriously to enhance their competency. 

One of the disturbing news items appearing in the print media three weeks back was that some who are doing their internship training in a metropolitan city abstained from  hospital duty, demanding that they be exempted from giving injections, collecting blood for examination from patients, etc. They wanted to work till mid day and be set free. This matter is not resolved as far as I know although the interns have returned to work at their terms.

There is a change in the value system among the interns in many medical schools in india. They have begun to look at it as a preparation time to get into post graduate training. So most of them would enrol for coaching programme during internship and ignore the training commitment they have to acquire skills. It is frightening to think that interns would be certified to practice at the end of one year without knowing enough, to give injections or perform veinpuncture to collect blood from patients for laboratory examination.

We need to review our training plan for interns. It is frightening to think that internship is despised by many. I wish we would make it a practice that all doctors after internship work for two years before they apply for post graduate training, for them to have acquire enough skills to be a general practitioners!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)