Imagine checking your bank account and realising you can barely pay for breakfast. Then, you walk into a hospital to work a 20-hour shift without any sleep, trying to balance your pride in your job with deep worries about your own life.

To most people walking past a public medical college hospital in Bangladesh, the young men and women in white coats look successful and safe. But behind the stethoscopes is a real story of pure exhaustion, skyrocketing prices, and safety worries. These issues together finally caused a massive walkout across 35 public medical colleges at the same time, starting a serious national conversation about how to fix the healthcare system.

While the rest of the country watched the news on their phones, the student leaders were working day and night. They had to make sure emergency patients were safe while still fighting for their rights. Dr Al Meyan Sheikh did not have a quiet office or a fancy press room to handle these high-stakes talks. As the IDA Member Secretary at Sir Salimullah Medical College, his main job was still working on the chaotic floors of Mitford Hospital.

He had to handle two massive jobs at once: keeping emergency care running on the ground while constantly talking with health officials to find a real solution.

“At present, being in a leadership role has been quite challenging. During the implementation of this movement, we often had to remain active for nearly 20 hours a day. Alongside our regular hospital duties, we were also responsible for coordinating and leading the programme, which significantly increased our workload. The entire process has been physically exhausting and mentally demanding.”

The biggest part of the talks was about making sure intern stipends match the actual cost of living today. Intern doctors across the country asked to raise their monthly allowance from Tk 20,000 to Tk 30,000. This request showed that everyone agrees inflation is making the old numbers impossible to live on.

“The current internship allowance of Tk 20,000 is simply inadequate when compared to the actual cost of living, accommodation, and food expenses. During internship, many doctors are already married and have family responsibilities, making it extremely difficult to manage their finances. Those who are single and living alone somehow manage to get by, but even that is far from comfortable.”

“The key issue is inflation. The cost of living continues to rise every year, but doctors’ allowances and salaries do not increase proportionately. Without a graded and structured pay scale that adjusts over time, the real value of these earnings will continue to decline. We are not only demanding a higher amount today; we are demanding a sustainable system that protects doctors from the long-term effects of inflation and ensures a dignified livelihood.”

Because top institutions like the Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) run independently, fixing these issues requires the government and academic boards to work as partners. Lately, talks have focused heavily on cutting down the high costs of advanced medical training, such as entry examination fees.

“At present, the examination fee is around Tk 11,000, which is extremely difficult for many fresh graduates to afford. We discussed this issue extensively with the Health Ministry. Based on those discussions, there has been an indication that the fee could potentially be reduced to around Tk 5,000–6,000. Any reduction would have to be negotiated between the government and BCPS, and a mutually acceptable fee structure would need to be established. We believe such costs create an unnecessary barrier for postgraduate medical education and should be made more reasonable and accessible.”

The two sides are also coming closer to an agreement on the strict age limits for government jobs (BCS), especially since it takes so long to complete an MBBS degree and a mandatory internship.

“Raising the BCS Health Cadre entry age limit to 34 years is an important demand because of the actual duration of medical education in our country. During discussions with the authorities, we highlighted that in MBBS there is effectively a time loss of at least two years when considering both the academic duration and the compulsory internship period. However, the authorities have argued that many candidates are already allowed to sit for BCS examinations during their internship period. While our demand is for 34 years, there has been discussion that it might be considered up to 33 years as a possible compromise.”

Outside of money, keeping doctors safe is a goal that both the medical community and the government share completely. In high-stress hospitals, frontline doctors are usually the ones who face the anger and grief of the public, which means they need real legal protection.

“One of the most serious concerns in our healthcare system is the safety of healthcare workers, particularly in emergency and casualty departments. In many cases, patients arrive in extremely critical conditions, sometimes already at the point of no survival despite all possible medical efforts. Unfortunately, even after such unavoidable outcomes, incidents of verbal abuse, threats, and even physical attacks on doctors and healthcare staff have been reported. This growing risk makes the implementation of a strong Health Worker Protection Act, along with a fast-track legal mechanism for such incidents, absolutely essential.”

The breakthrough happened quickly when the Ministry of Health met with the Intern Doctors’ Unity Council at the DGHS office in Mohakhali. Showing they were willing to listen, health officials changed their minds on a recent rule. They agreed to drop a plan that would have forced young doctors to do a two-year training period in rural upazila hospitals, recognising that those smaller facilities do not have senior specialists to actually train them.

“An official directive has been issued confirming that trainee doctors will receive salaries, and the previously proposed requirement of mandatory two-year upazila-level training for FCPS candidates has effectively been withdrawn. The main concern with that proposal was the lack of adequate training facilities and qualified trainers at the upazila level. In fact, out of our six-point charter, the government has already agreed to or addressed five of the demands. At this stage, our primary focus is on ensuring that these commitments are formally implemented within the promised timeframe.”

Deciding to stop routine hospital work is a terribly heavy moral choice for any doctor. Throughout the protest, the interns put patient safety first by making sure emergency rooms, ICUs, and casualty wards stayed open and fully staffed.

“The decision to take part in a nationwide work stoppage was not an easy one. It is important to clarify that emergency services were kept open throughout the protest. Only elective and routine services were affected. When the fundamental demands of doctors—related to working conditions, safety, and dignity—are not addressed, it becomes extremely difficult to sustain safe and effective service delivery in the long term. At the same time, doctors also need to protect their own well-being in order to continue providing care.”

After a joint statement and official promises from top Health Ministry leaders, the student delegation officially ended the walkout, bringing a quick and peaceful end to the crisis.

“Following assurances from the Ministry of Health, the central delegation officially withdrew the work stoppage. The overall sentiment among interns was positive, with a sense of cautious optimism towards the government’s assurances. There was a shared willingness to move forward, provided that the commitments are meaningfully implemented. However, regarding the assurances on stipend increase, private trainee doctors’ issues, and the BCS age limit, we do not consider them as final achievements at this stage. We see them as commitments that still need to be implemented in practice.”

With a clear seven-day deadline set to turn these promises into official policy, the paperwork is already moving through government channels. This resolution shows exactly what can happen when young professionals and state leaders sit down at the same table to build a stronger, safer, and fairer healthcare system for everyone.