Interns call for extremely low wages to be increased

Calling for an increase in government funding to ensure that medical school graduates serving as members of medical staffs under supervision in hospitals will be paid enough to make a living, the All Japan Federation of Medical Students Unions for medical students and interns on November 25 submitted a petition to the Ministry of Finance with about 20,000 signatures.

In Japan, medical school graduates receive two years of clinical training after they get their license, but they are very low-paid. Some receive only a third of the average entry-level pay for white collar workers.

The two-year clinical training, which is optional at present, will become mandatory after April 2004.

In their budget request for fiscal 2004 starting April 1st, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare asked the finance ministry to allocate 35.3 billion yen to increase wages for interns. However, the finance ministry has said that hospitals are responsible for their wage increases, adding that the state budget is applicable only to educational purposes.

If the system of clinical training becomes obligatory for interns without a major improvement in wages, society will have to face more medical malpractices due to overwork for interns who will be working night shifts on the side to make ends meet. (end)