On March 6th in the afternoon, a rally of TGMU students, protesting against the abolition of internships for medical students, will take place in Vladivostok. The event has been approved by the local authorities.
As Construction.ru was told by an organizer of the rally, the Russian government is going to abolish internships this year. In the judgement of the authorities, this will solve the problem of medical personnel in health centers, since the students, once they get a diploma, will be able to work as local pediatricians or therapists.
At the same time, all graduates from the medical college will be obliged to work for 3 years in healthcare institutions, providing primary care. Without such experience, the graduates will not be able to obtain a particular speciality.
Over 20,000 students from all over Russia have already signed the e-petition against the internship’s abolition. However, the Russian government hasn’t reacted to this so far. In the current situation an initiative group has taken the decision to hold a rally of TGMU students.
The following draft resolution will be proposed at the rally: internship abolition, introduction of compulsory work for the state after graduating, cutting state-funding places, which are distributed by competition as 10% of the overall number of state-funded places, and establishing in Russia a so-called international medical cluster contravene Articles 27, 37, 41, 43, 55 of the RF Constitution.
The Ministry of Health’s policy of closing medical institutions and cutting the number of medical personnel will lead to a grave infringement of patients’ rights. The abolition of the internship will be a catastrophe for Russian health care, degrade specialists’ training, and will inevitably cause an increase in malpractice, as well as ruining the lives of many young doctors.
Establishing international medical clusters, in which subsidiaries of foreign clinics will operate in accordance with the laws and medical standards of their relative countries, will destroy many domestic private organizations, including those with unique teams of doctors.
This will reduce the possibility for professional growth and earnings for Russian doctors, whereas patients will be obliged to pay larger sums for medical treatment. Foreign doctors reside in Russian temporary and might leave any day, and Russia will be left without a reserve of high-class specialists. In this regard, the rally’s participants have the following demands:
- preserve internships;
- reject the introduction of compulsory work after graduating, as well as plans to decrease the proportion of state-funded places, selected by contest, in medical institutions;
- stop cutting medical personnel, reject plans for the closure of public medical institutions and the establishment of international medical clusters;
- carry out a broad public debate on the changes, proposed by the Ministry of Health, with the participation of representatives from student associations and the Ministry, and patient’s rights organizations.
- publicise the debate, the documents of which should be freely published in the media.
They have also called on medical students and practicing doctors to support these demands and hold similar rallies in their respective cities until the end of the academic year.
