No interns at medical colleges since Jan 1

IN HOLD

Strap: Final-year students couldn’t join duty due to delay in exams amid Covid

BOXES

Internships begin from April 1

* The Baba Farid University of Health Sciences has now announced the schedule to complete the final-year exams by the mid of March and interns would be available from April 1

The procedure

* After a four-and-a-half-year MBBS degree, every medical student has to complete one-year compulsory internship in various specialties

* As one batch completes the internship and leaves on December 31, the next batch joins on January 1

* Earlier, the final-year students’ exams used to be conducted in November and they joined internship on January 1

* This time, there was inordinate delay in the exams of final-year students due to Covid, so there was no new student to join the internship on January 1

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, January 25

The four-month delay in the exams of the final year MBBS students has left all medical colleges in the state without interns since January 1.

After a four-and-a-half-year MBBS degree, every medical student has to complete one-year compulsory internship in various specialties. During the internship, these young doctors help the medical colleges in giving various services and in lieu of these services, they are paid monthly stipend.

The latest batch of about 1,200 interns in eight medical colleges in the state completed their required clinical training on December 31, 2020, and left the colleges, but the new batch is yet to join. In routine, after one batch completes the internship and leaves on December 31, the next batch joins on January 1.

Earlier, the final-year students’ exams used to be conducted in November and they joined their internship on January 1. But this time, there was inordinate delay in the exams of final-year students due to Covid, so there was no new student to join the internship on January 1.

The Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) has now announced the schedule to complete the final-year exams by the mid of March and interns would be available from April 1. So, for the time being, the medical colleges in the state will be without any medical interns for the next over two months.

While the medical colleges with post graduate courses are managing their work with the help of the PG students, other medical colleges are facing difficulties in the absence of interns.

After Covid pandemic, the state government has announced to increase the stipend of MBBS interns from Rs 9,000 to Rs 15,000 per month.

After completing their internship, these doctors are eligible for the NEET-PG exam to get admission in MD and MS courses. While last year the NEET-PG was conducted on January 5, this year it is scheduled to be held on April 18.