Intern Doctor Dies in Jambi Hospital, Family Speaks Out

The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) has sent an investigation team to delve into the death of Myta Aprilia Azmy, an intern doctor serving at Rumah Sakit KH Daud Arif in Kuala Tungkal, Jambi. Initially, Dr Myta was suspected of passing away due to a heavy workload. The victim’s body has been buried by the family at the Simpang Pendagan Public Cemetery in Pasar Muaradua Ward, Muaradua Subdistrict, South OKU Regency, South Sumatra, on Saturday (2/5). Meanwhile, the suspected causes of death for the intern doctor from the Faculty of Medicine at Sriwijaya University (FK Unsri) have come under scrutiny, particularly with support from her university colleagues. The family of the late Dr Myta Aprilia Azmy stated that they support the steps taken by the Sriwijaya University Faculty of Medicine Alumni Association (IKA FK Unsri), which is urging Kemenkes to investigate Myta’s death. “We support what IKA FK Unsri is doing, to investigate Myta’s case,” said one of the victim’s relatives, Dr Febri, last Saturday, quoted from detikJateng. He hopes for clarity on the case and that the investigation results can serve as a basis for a comprehensive evaluation of the intern doctor working system in Indonesia. “Hopefully, there will be clarity on improvements in the work of fellow intern doctors going forward. We are not judging who is at fault or who violated ethics or anything like that. The important thing is that we hope there will be no second Myta after this,” he added. Amid the atmosphere of grief, other family members expressed hopes that Dr Myta’s death would receive serious attention from the relevant parties. “We hope for attention from the government, especially regarding the intern doctor working system. May incidents like this not happen again,” said one family member at the mourning house. Dr Myta was previously known to be undergoing an internship programme at RSUD K.H Daud Arif Kuala Tungkal. At that time, Dr Myta was reported to have fallen ill and received treatment in Kuala Tungkal before being referred to a hospital in Jambi Province. After that, the late underwent treatment at Mohammad Hoesin General Hospital (RSMH) in Palembang. For about three days, Dr Myta received treatment and was declared deceased. Separately, the Head of the Bureau of Communication and Public Information at Kemenkes, Aji Muhawarman, said that Kemenkes extends its deepest condolences over the incident. He stated that the incident is a serious concern for Kemenkes. “Kemenkes has sent an integrated investigation team consisting of the Inspectorate General, Directorate General of Health Human Resources, Directorate General of Advanced Health, and professional expert team to conduct a thorough investigation,” said Aji when contacted on Sunday (3/5). Aji said the investigation is being conducted comprehensively to trace the entire sequence of events, including aspects of medical services, internship programme management, workload, participant support, and pre-placement health screening processes. “Deepening is also carried out through medical record audits, tracing medical check-up processes, and gathering statements from family, colleagues, internship supervisors, and medical or health personnel who handled the late,” he said. He added that initial information regarding the late’s health condition, including suspected comorbidities, will be further verified. Therefore, Kemenkes will not speculate and is awaiting the completion of the thorough investigation. Previously, the General Chairman of IKA FK Unsri, Achmad Junaidi, said that his side would monitor the case of Myta’s death while undergoing the internship programme. “We previously sent a letter to the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia. They requested an audit of RSUD K.H. Daud Arif in Kuala Tungkal, Jambi, which was Dr Myta’s assignment location,” said Junaidi, quoted from detik Sumbagsel on Saturday (2/5). In a letter dated 30 April 2026, IKA FK Unsri expressed concerns as well as several findings regarding the working conditions of intern doctors at that regional hospital. Junaidi mentioned that Myta was suspected of undergoing a heavy workload without sufficient rest during her internship. Even when her health condition began to decline since March 2026, Myta was said to have continued her on-duty schedule. In this case, IKA FK Unsri also highlighted several other issues, from alleged minimal supervision by supervising doctors, limited facilities such as medicine stocks, to indications of pressure to prevent the situation from escalating. Based on several pieces of evidence claimed to have been obtained by the FK Unsri Alumni Association, several supervising figures were also said to have deliberately concealed the late’s condition to avoid extending the internship period. Alleged verbal bullying was also experienced by the late Dr Myta. “There is an instruction to conceal this condition as well as narratives that corner intern doctors, which is a serious concern for us,” said Junaidi. “Narratives of gaslighting that attack the mentality of intern doctors, such as calling Generation Z soft when they voice basic health rights,” concluded the points of concern regarding alleged bullying in the IKA FK Unsri letter to Kemenkes. Meanwhile, the Indonesian Medical Professors Council (MGBKI) also highlighted four previous intern doctor death cases in West Java, Central Java, Bali, and South Sulawesi. In those four cases, MGBKI assessed that the investigations conducted by Kemenkes were too quick to conclude due to health factors alone. “From the Ministry of Health, they returned that those who died had illnesses. They analysed it that way,” said MGBKI official Zainal Muttaqin in a press conference on Sunday (3/5). He emphasised that almost all Indonesians, including doctors, have underlying illnesses. The issue, he said, is that it should have been detected by the institution or educational hospital. “We all definitely have health problems among us. How”