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Published : 07 Jun 2026, 12:49 PM
Intern doctors at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) have launched an indefinite work stoppage in pursuit of a six-point set of demands.
They, however, say patient services have not been fully disrupted.
The work abstention began at 8am on Sunday, with the CMCH Intern Doctors Association also announcing a demonstration outside the hospital building at 11:30am.
Association President Sakib Hossain said, “We have launched the strike as part of a coordinated programme across all medical college hospitals in the country.
“Some assurance was given on our first demand, but there has been no commitment on the remaining issues, so we were compelled to stop work.”
He added that trainee doctors at CMCH were continuing to cover duties in the meantime, keeping outdoor and emergency services running.
"If our demands are not met, we will be forced to take tougher decisions.”
The CMCH runs with the support of 290 intern doctors alongside roughly 1,000 trainee doctors, in addition to its regular medical staff.
The dispute centres on a set of decisions the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently took on Fellowship of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (FCPS) training.
Those decisions included halting new postings in certain departments at Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, making two years of mandatory Upazila-level service a condition of training, and introducing a merit-based limited stipend.
The six demands put forward by the intern doctors are: withdrawal of the FCPS training directives issued by the Medical Education and Family Welfare Division on May 19 and issuance of fresh guidelines; enactment of a healthcare worker protection law and its enforcement through a speedy trial tribunal; fixing the monthly intern stipend at Tk 30,000; and introducing a separate pay scale for government doctors.
The other demands include setting the Bangladesh Civil Service health cadre entry age limit at 34; converting the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) Act 2025 from an ordinance into a full act of parliament; taking legal action against those posing as licensed doctors; and capping all admission test fees under the BMDC and Bangladesh Medical University at Tk 1,000.
The association has carried out demonstrations, rallies and memorandum submissions since Thursday to press the demands.
In response, the Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) recently issued a statement following discussions with the ministry over the evolving situation after the May 19 policy directive.
As a result, the mandatory Upazila training condition has been scrapped.
The statement also said private FCPS trainees who have cleared the first part of the examination will now be eligible for stipends if they train at BCPS-recognised government medical college hospitals and institutes.
With the remaining demands still unmet, the intern doctors went ahead with the strike.
