JMDA warns about shortage of interns

The Jamaica Medical Doctors’ Association (JMDA) is sounding the alarm about a shortage of interns who are working within the medical facilities islandwide.

The association said there has been a significant reduction in the number of interns, which has created significant human resource and clinical challenges, and has posed substantial challenges to service delivery. The JMDA said the shortage has also increased the psychological and physical toll on medical teams.  

The association invited all doctors and supporters to wear blue today as a visible sign of solidarity with interns who will be taking protest action — a call for urgent action to address long-standing concerns. 

“In many facilities our interns are working for 24-32 hour periods on alternate days,” the JMDA said in a release. “There are interns who are working up to 56 consecutive hours.” The JMDA said these schedules are inconsistent with the stipulations outlined in Policies and Procedures Manual for the Medical Internship and Senior House Officer Programme. 

“We are calling for the immediate cessation of these exploitative hours of work which violate these guidelines. We have received reports of our interns experiencing motor vehicular accidents and falling ill from sheer exhaustion,” the association said.

The JMDA said that medical officers have identified that interns are unable to adequately hone their key clinical skills because of the significant increase in workload associated with the decreased intern-to-service ratio. This has far-reaching implications for patient safety and the quality of clinical training. 

“Without urgent intervention, the shortage of interns will continue to pressure an already strained healthcare system and the medical professionals who serve within it,” the JMDA said. The association called on the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Ministry of Finance and Public Service to urgently identify funding to support, among other things, the creation of additional internship posts, and make improvements in rest and overnight facilities. 

“These facilities are entirely absent in some institutions, inadequate in others where interns are required to share beds, and in some locations have experienced recurrent flooding with sewage and inadequate sanitisation.