By: Siphiwe Ngcongco
Medical services in the Northern Cape province got a boost in the arm when the department of Health welcomed 236 new medical interns, including Community Service Professionals, over the festive period.
This follows the national health department’s successful completion of allocating about 10 000 medical interns to various hospitals and clinics. The allocation is done according to the annual intake of the Internship and Community Service Programme (ICSP).
The provincial health department is allocated 236 medical interns for deployment in its health institutions in the province.
The national department of health spokesperson Foster Mohale indicated, “priority was given to South African citizens who studied in local and foreign institutions of higher learning who met the minimum requirements. These medical interns are deployed to enhance services in the public sectors as the last phase of their academic programme.”
Mohale further explained that the ICSP is an electronic platform that the national department of health administrates to manage the internship and Community Service Programme for the country to ensure that the application and allocation of posts are fair and equitable.
Northern Cape MEC of Health Maruping Lekwene said the newly appointed interns would bring relief. The interns have are placed in local hospitals and clinics across the five provincial districts. The medical interns practice in different fields such as Physiotherapy, Diagnostic Radiography and Audiology community services.
“They bring a sigh of relief to the province. These young doctors and clinicians will help to address the backlogs of facilities and improve community services,” he said.
He added, “We have highlighted important factors during the start of the current financial year. We are looking into medium-term interventions to optimise health service delivery, particularly to disadvantaged communities, relieving pressure on regional hospitals such as Dr. Harry Surtie and Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe”.
A new medical intern Dr Relebohile Rabathaba said she was looking forward to helping patients during her two-year internship and will tackle any challenges she may come across with a positive attitude.
Meanwhile, another intern, Dr Marva Hamid expressed her gratitude for the opportunity availed to her, as she will be applying academic medical theory to practice in helping community members.
“I want to learn as much possible as possible because in med school – it was more studying and now it is time to apply it to my best abilities and give back to the community,” she said.
Maruping said he expected a massive relief in the provision of medical services with the intake of these medical interns. In this province, over 70% of the population has no medical insurance and the medical services brought forward will have a huge impact.
South African Medical Association Trade Union Secretary General Dr Cedric Sihlangu said that as a trade union they will be working with the government to find ways to secure jobs for medical interns after the completion of their internship. 
“We will be working closely with the government. By June we need to start planning for the placement of doctors in 2024. The government needs to correctly allocate its resources to the current doctors doing their internships. We are going to put pressure for things to be appropriately applied,” he said.
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