António Pedro Santos / Lusa
Strike called by the National Federation of Doctors (FNAM) in November
Intern doctors end up leaving the SUS because they feel “that they owe nothing to the State”, say officials from Fnam and SIM, who guarantee that “interns represent a third of the medical workforce in the public service”.
According to data from , there are around 31 thousand doctors working in the National Health Service, but there are more than 59 thousand registered with the Medical Association in Portugal.
The president of the National Federation of Doctors (Fnam), Joana Bordalo and Sáspeaking to , says that “if internal doctors suddenly disappeared from the SNS, it would be a tragedy, hospitals and health centers would be in bad, very bad shape”.
The oncologist guarantees that “residents have a employment contract of 40 hours per week, but these are always exceededit can even be 60 hours or more”.
He denounces the working conditions of these doctors, which he says are extremely overloading: “When we say that interns represent a third of the medical workforce in the public service It’s because they really represent it. We all know they have a indescribable work overload“.
“They don’t just see patients in the wards, they make consultations, provide emergency services and still have to research, go to conferences, publish articles and study for final exams”, he highlights.
According to the president of Fnam, the remuneration of intern doctors is also quite low: “an internist earns 11.99 euros per hour in the first few yearsand in the last two, when you are already in the 3rd and 4th or in the 5th and 6th year, R$ 13.55”. On average, “an internist receives no more than 1300 to 1500 euros per month”.
Furthermore, “the four, five or six years in which they are training and working in the SNS, not be counted towards career progression doctor.”
The doctor also explains that, in Portugal, the internship is an added value in training, but, as “assistant doctors continue to leave the services”, the ideal “would be for there to be one intern per supervisor, but this is far from happening in Portugal . The limit is three per advisor and sometimes there are those who have morebecause it is necessary to distribute the inmates who were left without a supervisor.”
The general secretary of the Independent Doctors Union (SIM), Nuno Rodriguessays that the crisis currently being experienced in boarding schools is related to a “total lack of investment in training”.
“It is not enough for an inmate to work a lot in SUS services and earn poorly, as you still have to pay for the different training you need to dowhether in the area of health or new technologies, which cost thousands of euros. That’s why when an intern finishes his training and sees other opportunities, either abroad or in the private sector, ends up leaving the SNS and feels that he owes nothing to the State”, guarantees the doctor.
“Our doctors are in great demand to practice in other countries, and 99% of training is done in the SNS“, he points out, so “it is important that the government reflects on these numbers”.
