Medical students await court decision on examinations

Medical students in Zimbabwe are awaiting the outcome of their court action against the government in which they seek the suspension of their end-of-year examinations on the basis that they have not received proper training due to the ongoing strike by doctors and lecturers.

Doctors have been on strike since 3 September demanding that their salaries be indexed on the United States dollar after the country’s inflation rose in September to 300%, the world’s highest rate according to the International Monetary Fund.

The doctors, who include medical professors, have said they will not return to work until they receive sizeable increases in pay and on-call allowances.

Students are arguing that the industrial action has compromised learning and are calling for a suspension of examinations so that quality education is maintained in the country’s medical schools.

United call

Dr Mthabisi Bhebhe, secretary general of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors' Association, said the call for medical students not to write exams this year-end was agreed between the students, medical lecturers and doctors.

The University of Zimbabwe scheduled examinations for 25 November. Three state universities – the University of Zimbabwe in Harare, the National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo and the Midlands State University in Gweru – have medical schools.

“They were supposed to write exams but the medical students and medical professors said there is need to uphold learning standards. They could not write exams on things that they were not prepared for. Because of the stalemate between doctors and government, there were no patients that were being admitted into hospitals. There was no clinical learning. There was not enough teaching material; the lecturers were not at work. Medical students refused to write the exams,” said Bhebhe.

In a recent statement, the Senior Hospital Doctors' Association said the situation at public hospitals where medical students go for part of their training was dire.

Dysfunctional hospitals

At Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo, the country’s second-largest city, the doctors' association said the outpatient department had been closed for the past two months and patients with chronic conditions were not receiving treatment.

It said only four out of 10 operating theatres were currently available for surgery, the paediatric theatre was not functional and maternity recovery rooms had no monitors. The neurosurgery unit was barely functional as the available equipment was outdated.

“The situation at Mpilo is critical and any attempt to view it as normal would be tantamount to propagating a silent genocide. Lifesaving equipment is in a state of disrepair, essential drugs and sundries are unavailable, while hospital staff cannot afford to come to work,” said the Senior Hospital Doctors' Association.

In October, the University of Zimbabwe suspended two top lecturers – Dr Bothwell Mbuwayesango, one of only three paediatric surgeons in Zimbabwe, and Dr David Chimuka, a senior cardiothoracic surgeon and fellow lecturer at the same university – for inciting medical students to strike. Their suspension was revoked days later following pressure from the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors' Association, among other entities.

Firing of doctors

As the impasse between the doctors and government rages on, government has responded by firing 448 doctors and more are set to appear before disciplinary hearings.

On Tuesday, senior non-striking doctors handling emergency cases said they were joining the strike in solidarity with those who had been fired.

After a cabinet meeting chaired by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on the same day, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa told a press conference that processes concerning the recruitment of 150 Cuban medical staff as well as the training of 6,000 clinical officers was “being expedited”.