Insights of South African medical interns on their intentions towards careers in primary healthcare and child health

The exceptional potential in extending primary care exposure for South African medical interns

“…The extended family medicine intern rotation can be crucial in better equipping these young professional colleagues for their community service year and potentially a career pathway in primary healthcare. 7 A study that tracked graduates from one university showed that more than half of their alumni did not go on to specialise, which makes the extended rotation more aligned with most graduates’ career pathways. 8 However, interns may miss out on this exceptional potential opportunity if used only for menial tasks such as pushing patients to X-rays and putting up drips in under-resourced and poorly managed facilities.…”