Ragging, assault, suicide, toxic work culture in medical colleges: Doctors' body moves PM Modi, seeks national zero-tolerance framework
New Delhi: Highlighting the increasing instances of ragging, assault, harassment, intimidation, suicides and complaints of excessive work hours, a doctors' body has written to the Prime Minister of India, seeking his intervention for a solution.
The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) wrote to PM Modi on Thursday, referring to recent reports of such incidents at AIIMS Jodhpur, MGM Medical College Indore, Government Medical College Surat, and other medical institutes in Gujarat, Panipat, and Haryana.
FAIMA said these instances highlight "serious concerns regarding the safety, dignity and working conditions of medical trainees" and raise an important national concern: "no medical student or resident should be forced to work or study in an environment of fear, humiliation, violence or retaliation." The association has also stressed that each of these cases must be investigated fairly and in accordance with law.
Seeking the Prime Minister's intervention, FAIMA has requested the Government to establish a National Zero-Tolerance Framework against ragging, assault, harassment and intimidation.
It has also demanded that independent, time-bound investigations with protection against retaliation must be ensured. Other demands of the association include setting up a centralised reporting mechanism for serious incidents, including suicides and assaults, monitoring duty hours, working conditions, and institutional compliance, strengthening independent anti-ragging and grievance mechanisms, ensuring confidential and accessible mental-health support for medical students and resident doctors, and fixing institutional accountability where complaints are ignored, or preventive safeguards are not implemented.
"Discipline and academic rigour are essential to medical education, but violence, humiliation and exploitation cannot be accepted as part of medical training," the association said in the letter.
Speaking to Medical Dialogues, the President of FAIMA, Dr Srinath Dubyala, said, "During our recent meeting with the Hon’ble Chairman of the National Medical Commission (NMC), FAIMA raised several critical concerns affecting resident doctors across the country. Among them, one of our most urgent demands was the need to regulate the excessively long and continuous duty hours of resident doctors. Resident doctors are human beings too."
"Across many medical institutions, residents continue to work for 24–36 hours at a stretch, often without adequate rest or mandatory post-duty recovery. Such prolonged working hours can lead to severe physical exhaustion, mental stress, burnout, and may also compromise the well-being of doctors and the safety of patient care. FAIMA’s recent nationwide resident doctors’ survey revealed deeply concerning findings, including 80% residents are burnout among 16% resident doctors and reports of suicidal thoughts among a section of respondents," he added.
Dr. Srinath referred to recent tragic incidents involving medical trainees, including reports from AIIMS Jodhpur and said that these instances further underline the urgency of addressing the mental health, working conditions, and welfare of resident doctors.
"Despite raising the issue directly with the NMC leadership, we are yet to see concrete nationwide measures addressing continuous duty hours and mandatory post-duty rest," he said, adding that this is why they have now sought the Prime Minister's intervention.
"We must act before another resident doctor’s life is lost," he added.
At AIIMS Jodhpur, a final year resident doctor was found unconscious in the bathroom of a doctors’ resting area while on a break from his duty at the operation theatre (OT) on the afternoon of September 22. He was rushed to the Emergency Department, where he was declared dead. Police suspect the case to be a suicide. Reportedly, some syringes were found beside him in the washroom, and it is suspected that he injected himself with a lethal drug.
Allegations of a toxic work environment have been reported from MGM Medical College, Indore as well. Medical Dialogues recently reported that a first-year resident doctor at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department of the institute attempted suicide by administering an excessive dose of insulin. She was rescued by the police and taken to MY Hospital, where she is currently undergoing treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). It was alleged that the doctor attempted self-harm after facing a hostile working environment, including ragging and harassment by seniors. Three second-year resident doctors have been accused.
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