Tanzania is experiencing a serious Human Resource for Health (HRH) crisis. Shortages are 87.5% and 67% in private and public hospitals, respectively. Mal-distribution and brain drain compound the shortage. The objective of this study was to improve knowledge on the HRH status in Tanzania by analyzing what happens to the number of medical doctors (MD) and doctor of dental surgery (DDS) degree graduates during the transition period from graduation, internship to appointment. We analyzed secondary

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... data to get the number of MDs and DDS; who graduated from 2001 to 2010, the number registered for internship from 2005 to 2010 and the number allowed for recruitment by government permits from 2006 to 2010. Self administered questionnaires were provided to 91 MDs and DDS who were pursuing postgraduate studies at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences during this study who went through the graduation-internship-appointment (GIA) period to get the insight of the challenges surrounding the MDs and DDS during the GIA period. From 2001 to 2010 a total of 2,248 medical doctors and 198 dental surgeons graduated from five local training institutions and abroad. From 2005 to 2010 a total of 1691 (97.13%) and 186 (126.53%) of all graduates in MD and DDS, respectively, registered for internship. The