Over 40 percent medicos call work environment 'toxic', 73 percent report excessive workload: FAIMA Survey

Professionals from premier institutions such as AIIMS, PGI, and JIPMER participated in large numbers, lending strong credibility to the findings. Doctors from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands also took part in the survey, reflecting its comprehensive national reach. According to the data, 90.4% of respondents were from government medical institutions, while 7.8% represented private colleges—ensuring a wide and balanced overview of India’s medical education landscape.

The analysis highlights significant challenges affecting both education and the mental well-being of students. "Only 71.5% of respondents reported adequate patient exposure, 54.3% confirmed regular teaching sessions, and 69.2% found laboratory and equipment facilities satisfactory. Faculty adequacy stood at 68.8%, while just 44.1% reported the presence of functional skills labs. Timely stipend payments were received by only half of the respondents, and a mere 29.5% experienced fixed working hours, indicating a lack of structural and administrative discipline. Alarmingly, 73.9% reported excessive clerical workload, 55.2% cited staff shortages, and 40.8% described their work environment as toxic. Furthermore, 89.4% of participants felt that poor infrastructure directly affects the quality of medical education," said the release issued by the association.

"When comparing institution types, private colleges showed slightly better teaching regularity and faculty strength, while government institutions reported greater patient exposure but heavier administrative burdens. Despite moderate confidence levels in skills acquisition (70.4%), only 57.4% of respondents felt prepared for independent practice, suggesting a growing gap between theoretical learning and practical competence," the findings noted.

In 2024 National Task Force gave Nationwide Recommendations after conducting a similar survey among UGs, PGs, and Teachers. Recommendations include fixed duty hours for residents and interns, appointment of a Mental Health counsellor for Medical students, and involving parents yearly for Mental health wellness of medicos. Also, 10 days' leave was recommended by the National Task Force. "After a year through this survey, FAIMA has found that only a few things have been applied on the ground even after recommendations by the National Task Force," the association said.

"The findings call for immediate intervention by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the National Medical Commission.FAIMA emphasizes the need for urgent reforms, including improved infrastructure, adequate staffing, reduction of clerical burdens, timely stipends, and mandatory skills lab facilities in every medical college. The association will formally submit this report to the concerned authorities, urging swift corrective measures to ensure that India’s expanding medical education network maintains global standards of quality and produces well-trained, confident healthcare professionals," the release added.

The association mentioned that it will give detailed recommendations to NMC and Niti Ayog for the Mental and Academic well-being of medicos across the country.

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Dr V Vignesh Rajendran, Co-Chairman, FAIMA, stated, “This is the largest such survey amongst medical students to review the medical education system in India. It's shocking that there are inadequacies in patient exposure, teaching, faculty strength, and infrastructure. The survey has revealed that most students are forced to do a lot of clerical (non-medical) work and study in a toxic environment, which will trouble their mental health. Rather than opening new medical colleges left, right and centre, the government should focus on improving the standards of medical education in the existing colleges.”

Talking to Medical Dialogues, Dr. Akshay Dongardive, President of FAIMA, stated, “We realized that to initiate a change, it is equally important to get to the bottom of the problems that doctors usually face, including issues of workspace toxicity and mental peace. Only after knowing the current status, we will be able to suggest proper policy and that was the motivation behind the survey.”