Need for strengthening of internship (rotatory housemanship) training in India

Internship is a problematic phase in the training of doctors in India. At the end of their one-year Internship, students are not formally examined for proficiency, rarely a student is not given a satisfactory completion certificate and training is sometimes not supervised. Students are required to spend three months of this Internship in Primary Health Centres at rural postings. During this period the students often prepare for the written exams that would allow them to pursue post-graduate studies.

In a personal reflection, this situation is described in the current article. The author suggests several approaches to improve this unwanted situation, so that the rural postings could be taken more seriously by the students.

Suggestions range from a post-internship examination, via the introduction of compulsory rural postings after graduation to an increase of the avenues for post-graduate training to include a course in family medicine and general practice.

The objective of providing excellent training during internship periods cannot be achieved unless interns actively participate. If the current situation does not change, for example according to the suggested solutions, this valuable component of medical training will remain problematic, thereby hindering the optimal preparation of doctors for the entire spectrum of necessary health care in India.