Legislator Pushes for Reform of Internship System in Indonesia
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Member of DPR RI Commission IX Netty Prasetiyani is pushing for reforms to the doctor internship system in Indonesia, following the deaths of four medical personnel in the last three months.
“This is not merely a misfortune, but can be interpreted as a signal of systemic problems that must be addressed immediately. Young doctors must not become victims of an imperfect system,” she said in an official statement in Jakarta on Tuesday.
She assessed that this series of events should serve as an alarm to evaluate the doctor internship system. One aspect she highlighted is the unclear status of internship participants, who are positioned between students and healthcare workers.
“This condition impacts the weakness in protecting rights, including regarding working hours, health insurance, and welfare certainty,” she said.
She also stressed the importance of evaluating the supervision and mentoring system.
“There are many reports showing high workloads, even exceeding limits, as well as minimal mentoring. This poses risks not only to young doctors but also to patient safety,” she stated.
As a legislator in the fields of health and labour, Netty also highlighted the weakness in the oversight and reporting system for intern doctors’ conditions.
According to her, there are still internship doctors who are reluctant to report suboptimal working conditions for fear of impacting their assessments and graduation.
Therefore, she urged the government through the Ministry of Health to take immediate concrete steps.
In addition, she pushed for the formation of a transparent and accountable investigation team to uncover the exact causes of the deaths of these intern doctors, while formulating policy improvements for the future.
“The safety of doctors is part of patient safety. We must not turn a blind eye. This is a momentum for total reform,” Netty concluded.
Previously, an intern doctor named Myta Aprilia Azmi passed away on Friday (1/5) after being hospitalised. Before her death, she was suspected of experiencing excessive workload during the internship programme at Rumah Sakit K.H. Daud Arif in Jambi.
Dr. Myta’s death became the fourth case of an intern doctor’s death in the last three months. Previously, there were three intern doctors who passed away, namely in Cianjur, West Java; Rembang, Central Java; and Denpasar, Bali.