JIPMER panel confirms Junior doctors' harassment by HoD General Medicine, recommends action
Puducherry: More than a year after a junior resident doctor lodged a complaint of physical and mental harassment against a senior faculty member in the Department of Medicine, a two-member inquiry panel at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) has confirmed the veracity of the incident.
The panel, formed to investigate allegations against the professor, then Head of the Department of Medicine, verified that several forms of abuse had occurred, including twisting and pinching of the ears, poking with a pen tip without a cap, punching of the abdomen, verbal abuse, and threats to fail students in the examinations.
The committee has recommended that a more detailed investigation be conducted by the competent authority and suggested that JIPMER should set up a formal grievance redressal system for all resident doctors.
While the panel confirmed the incidents took place, it was unable to determine whether the intent behind the actions was to harm or discipline students. “Some of the residents felt that the acts of physical contact were with the intent to correct mistakes made in patient care, and some others felt that there was an intent to harm them," the panel noted.
Medical Dialogues reported in February 2024 that the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued directions to the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER) administration to immediately conduct a thorough investigation of a complaint of alleged physical and psychological harassment faced by a junior resident at the Department of General Medicine.
It was alleged by the resident doctor that he was physically and psychologically harassed by an authority at the department. He also alleged that he had to face discriminatory behaviour. The resident doctor filed a complaint before the Union Health Ministry and cited numerous instances where he was allegedly subjected to physical and mental harassment.
He also alleged that he was deliberately failed the MD general medicine professional exit examination by the Head of the Department. In his complaint, the JR accused the HoD of causing physical harm and of discriminatory behaviour. Further, the doctor claimed that he attempted suicide after being pushed due to the mental stress and agony.
Apart from this, the complainant also conjoined a plea to the Dean of the Institute along with 30 outgoing residents and alumni of the Department of Medicine as signatories. In the plea, the residents alleged that at least five residents attempted self-harm over the past year and one in every seven residents was taking anti-depressants in the medicine department. Allegedly, the concerned department had a failure rate in the exit exam that was much higher than any other of 28 odd clinical departments. Five students failed the exit exam in general medicine, whereas only three candidates failed the exit test when all other departments were put together.
Several other students also complained to the Dean, alleging that they were being failed in the exit exam deliberately. They also levelled charges of harassment and discrimination through their three-year PG residency at the unit.
Based on the repeated complaints raised by several resident doctors, JIPMER constituted a probe committee that conducted an inquiry and confirmed that the incident did take place. The committee was headed by Dr. Bhawana A. Badhe and Dr. Pankaj Kundra, and coordinated by Associate Dean (Academics) Dr. Madhusudhanan Ponnusamy.
However, one of the complainants revealed that it was only after a second appeal under the Right to Information (RTI) Act that he could access the report. “We were kept in the dark about the outcome of the inquiry in which we participated. It was only after my second appeal before the Central Information Commission that the authorities made available a copy of the report”, the doctor told The Hindu.
The complainant says he intends to approach JIPMER authorities again to know what action has been taken following the panel completing its inquiry and submitting its report months ago.
The committee gathered testimonies from junior residents, faculty members of Medicine Unit-I, and others who had raised concerns. A faculty member from the same unit and two professors who had initially received complaints from the students confirmed the allegations during their interviews. However, the professors were unable to follow up on the complaints as they went on leave shortly afterwards. A senior resident had also raised similar concerns earlier, but no action had been taken then.
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