Eman Salama, a member of the Medical Syndicate, said that the Ministry of Finance agreed to spend a monthly reward for house officer doctors, equivalent to 80% of the total salary of the resident doctor in university hospitals in accordance with Law No. 135 of 2019. Parliament approved the law regulating the practice of the medical profession last September, stipulating an increase in rewards for house officer doctors, and holding a unified national exam to get the license to practice medicine, after the end of training year. Although 6 months have passed since the law was passed, no university has implemented it, which has sparked anger among house officers doctors who have launched a hashtag #Applying_the_houseofficer_doctors_reward_Law, calling on officials to quickly implement their right stipulated in the law.
House officer doctors in Egypt complain of low salaries, administrative arbitrariness and the risk of infection and diseases, their marginalization and lack of their importance compared to the resident doctors. “Most hospitals exploit house officers doctors to do some nursing work, and force them to work throughout the week, which is a waste of the training period,” said Ehab Al-Taher, Secretary General of the Medical Syndicate. Doctors in Egypt face harsh and inhuman working conditions as a result of poor salaries, absence of training programmes, underequipped hospitals, and abuse by officials.
