"We still have 3,500 interns and 800 Nusantara Sehat [Archipelago Health program] workers – In addition to 685 volunteers such as lung specialists, anesthetists, internists, general practitioners and nurses – who are ready to be deployed and to help if a larger workforce is needed," Terawan said last week.

He said 16,286 medical interns and volunteers had already been deployed to COVID-19 referral hospitals and labs.

His statement, the latest of his comments to attract public criticism, followed reports that more than 100 doctors had died of COVID-19 and growing concerns that the nation’s healthcare system was facing collapse.

In the Indonesian system, recent medical graduates must, after passing a national competency exam, sign up for a one-year internship. The internship is split between a hospital and a community health center (Puskesmas), and each segment is six months long. This period of hands-on study is required to obtain a medical license and to be eligible for subsequent specialization residencies.

In response to the pandemic, the government has shortened the internship period to nine months, decreasing the length of time spent at hospitals in an attempt to minimize interns’ exposure to COVID-19.

In the program, interns treat patients under the supervision of doctors. The government pays interns assigned to the western part of the country Rp 3.15 million (US$213.79) per month, and those in the eastern part Rp 3.6 million per month.

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