Petition

Last year 22.000 students signed a petition demanding that the minister pay financial compensation to medical interns. The minister refused. In a letter to Ponsen she wrote that payment for interns was a responsibility of the hospitals and not the government. 

Bussemaker also stated that medical students have good career perspectives. ‘Medical studies are financially rewarding.’ The extra costs caused by the increased amount of loans will be earned back ‘abundantly,’ the minister wrote.

#coassistent

To increase pressure on the minister, students have called for nationwide social media actions this Thursday – exactly one year after the minister received the petition. By posting messages under the hashtag #coassistent (Dutch for medical intern) on Facebook and Twitter, students, nurses and doctors are asked to give insight into the lives of medical interns. The idea is to emphasise how busy the life of a medical intern is. ‘One could, for example, tweet something like: “It’s half past five, I have to get out of bed,”’ Ponsen says.

At 13.00 today medical interns in hospitals all over the country will make a stand by chewing on a small piece of wood. This refers to the Dutch proverb ‘Op een houtje bijten,’ meaning someone is very poor. The chewing of the wood will also be broadcasted on social media.