Long duty hours, toxic work culture? Fact-finding team probes IMS BHU surgery medico's suicide attempt case

Vanarasi: A fact-finding team has started its investigation into the suicide attempt case of a postgraduate surgery student at the Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS), Banaras Hindu University (BHU).

The team formed by the All India Progressive Women's Association (APWA) and the All India Students’ Association (AISA) visited IMS-BHU and met Director Dr S.N. Sankhwar to gather information about the incident. Members of the team also visited the ICU and met doctors treating the concerned medico, who is currently on ventilator support.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported the incident of this 25-year-old doctor who allegedly injected herself with insulin shots in an attempt to commit suicide on March 13. The doctor allegedly injected herself with over 100 insulin shots, which reportedly pushed her into a coma. She is currently on ventilator support. According to social media posts, the doctor is a first-year postgraduate student and allegedly took the extreme step due to toxicity in the department.

The team investigating the case spoke with the doctor's parents and several students at the institute. Some students, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed that junior doctors are often made to work long duty hours.

The APWA-AISA fact-finding team is examining the workplace environment at the institution. Some patients stated that the long duty hours of junior doctors affect the quality of treatment.

During discussions with the team, the Director acknowledged that medical students work long duty hours. However, he did not provide data regarding the number of duty hours the medico had worked from the date of joining until the day of the incident. He stated that the authority to provide the report of the internal inquiry committee rests only with the Dean.

Some students also told the team that the matter should be investigated by the police since it involves an alleged suicide attempt.

The team observed that there appears to be no improvement in her health condition so far. Therefore, it was suggested that the possibility of shifting her to a higher-level medical institute for treatment should be considered.

The APWA-AISA team said the investigation is still ongoing and appealed to the people of Varanasi to come forward with any information related to the case, assuring that identities would be kept confidential.

Also read- IMS BHU Surgery resident doctor attempts suicide with insulin overdose, critical