Although critical knowledge of social determinants of health empowers health professionals to confront the causes of inequitable health outcomes, healthcare professionals continue to feel powerless when faced with upstream social and structural issues. Using a case of the social medicine course conducted in Northern Uganda, and the 2016/2017 Uganda medical interns’ movement, we examine the significance of social medicine education in enhancing healthcare professionals’ skills set to address a structural force—medical internship policy. Data sources included key informants, policy documents, blogs, Facebook posts, and YouTube Videos. Data were analyzed using content analysis techniques. Healthcare workers drawing on critical skills and knowledge from the social medicine course training could perform self‐ and problem‐analysis centered within power dynamics; identify avenues to communicate issues of concern; implement constructive dialog and collaborate with stakeholders to influence and halt a medical internship policy discourse through protest on streets and legal channels. Social medicine training and principles empower health workers to function as actors with the required skills and knowledge to initiate and sustain tactical, effective, and meaningful health advocacy directed towards altering social determinants of health that perpetuate social disadvantage with subsequent impact on population health outcomes.