Judasa issues statement on intern and community service placement
While acknowledging systemic challenges, the Junior Doctors Association of South Africa (Judasa) has called on the Department of Health to release the first round of allocations for intern and community service placements today, so that the majority of applicants are not disadvantaged.
In addition, Judasa said in a statement: "After engagement with our constituency, we believe that the department's proposal to 'match' unplaced applicants to a facility within 100km of their choices is a reasonable proposal. However, it must be noted that it will only be supported if applicants are allowed to reject a 'matched' placement should this not be suitable to their personal circumstances.
"We believe that this proposed solution should have been discussed with representative bodies weeks before its envisaged implementation rather than a few days before the release of first round placements.
"Nevertheless, placement of as many applicants in the first phase remains our primary concern. Judasa supports a high first round placement rate but this must not be to the detriment of the applicant."
