Senior Doctors at SMS Hospital Choose Voluntary Retirement to join Private Institutes
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Jaipur: Senior doctors at Sawai Man Singh Medical College and Hospital are opting for voluntary retirement to explore career opportunities and pursue teaching roles at private medical universities.
This comes at a time when the government had already extended the retirement age for doctors to 65 but this added flexibility has not stopped some medical professionals from choosing to retire early.
As per a TOI news report, Dr Sudhir Mehta, a 1980 alumnus of SMS Medical College and former head of the medicine department, retired early on October 30, 2024, instead of his scheduled 2026 retirement. He has now taken up the role of pro vice-chancellor and director of the medicine department at a private university.
Similarly, Dr Keswani, who succeeded Dr Mehta as department head also retired voluntarily within a month. After 44 years at SMS Hospital, including his time as department head, he also chose voluntary retirement despite having a 2026 retirement date.
Speaking to the Daily, Dr Sudhir Mehta said, "I wanted to pursue research and academics. Research and teaching are my passions. They (the private university) want me to develop courses. Currently, there are 24 PG students in medicine, and next year it will increase to 40. In SMS hospital, there are 60 PG students. I have to draw up a strong plan in academics for them. I still have 10 years of energy to pursue academics."
"I took VRS on medical grounds. Now, I have joined a private university where I am teaching medical students," said Dr Keswani.
The reason behind their early retirement is because of demanding workload at SMS Hospital due to govt schemes. The rising patient count is reported to put considerable presuure on doctors which negatively impacts their health.
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