Jakarta. The Health Ministry has launched a special investigation and ordered a nationwide review of the country’s medical internship program following the deaths of four internship doctors this year, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Thursday.

The ministry said the investigation aims to uncover possible systemic failures, including excessive workloads, poor supervision, and outdated workplace culture within hospitals and medical training facilities.

“We deeply mourn and express our condolences to the families of the four internship doctors who died this year,” Budi said during a press conference at the Health Ministry’s Adhyatma Building in Jakarta.

The four doctors were identified as Andito Mohammad Wibisono, Kartika Ayu Permatasari, Edgar Bezaliel Hartanto, and Myta Aprilia Azmy.

According to the ministry, Andito died in March after contracting measles accompanied by pneumonia while serving at a regional hospital in Cianjur, West Java. Kartika died in February while assigned in Cianjur after suffering a severe illness during her internship period. Edgar, who was serving in Denpasar, Bali, died after experiencing a deteriorating health condition.

The death of Myta in May drew particular public scrutiny after reports alleged she endured inhumane working hours and inadequate supervision. The ministry said she died from severe lung infection, pneumonia, sepsis, and respiratory failure after serving at a regional hospital in Jambi.

Budi said the cases exposed long-standing problems within Indonesia’s medical training system, spanning from clinical rotations and internships to specialist residency programs.

“There should be no doctor dying because of unhealthy workplace culture in hospitals,” he said.

The ministry has formed a cross-sector investigative team involving the Health Ministry’s inspectorate general, directorates overseeing healthcare personnel and services, professional medical organizations, and medical school alumni representatives.

The team has been tasked with collecting information not only from hospitals and local health offices, but also directly from internship doctors, victims’ families, supervisors, and hospital management to ensure a transparent and objective investigation.

Budi said he personally visited several locations to verify information on the ground.

As part of the review, the government imposed a maximum working limit of 40 hours per week for internship doctors and prohibited compressed schedules that could endanger their health.

The ministry also criticized the practice of some hospitals allegedly using internship doctors to fill staffing shortages instead of employing permanent physicians.

Budi said the government is preparing possible sanctions against individuals or institutions found violating professional and ethical standards. Any disciplinary action, however, must first go through a medical audit conducted by Indonesia’s Medical Discipline Council under the Indonesian Medical Council.

The initial audit is expected to be completed within about a week, he said.

Indonesia’s internship program is mandatory for medical graduates before they can obtain full practice authority. Under the current system, medical students typically undergo four years of academic study, around two years of clinical rotations, followed by one year of internship training.

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