Why dreams have turned into nightmares for these medicos

Why dreams have turned into nightmares for these medicos

TNN | Dec 26, 2023, 08.15 AM IST

Why dreams have turned into nightmares for these medicos

NEW DELHI: After completing her MBBS, 27-year-old Chanchal (name changed) put in two years of hard work to prepare and clear her postgraduate National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). She is now a second-year PG student in the obstetrics and gynaecology department of a state-run government medical college in Delhi. Her dream, however, has turned into a “nightmare”.

“Every day, I wake up with a feeling of regret. I wish I had not opted for this branch and sacrificed my mental health. Even thinking about going to the hospital makes me anxious. I have been diagnosed with depression and put on medication. Unfortunately, I’m not the only one who is suffering due to an understaffed and toxic work environment in government hospitals,” she said.

Several resident doctors TOI spoke to shared similar concerns about the conditions in top state- and Centre-run government-run medical colleges in the city — long, taxing days where the working hours could stretch from 18 to 36 hours, sleep deprivation, non-sanctioning of leaves during emergencies and ‘mistreatment’.

Recently, 25-year-old Jay Dipesh Savla, a third-year PG resident doctor from Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital, allegedly died by suicide at his south Delhi home, where he lived alone. According to police, Savla had been suffering from depression for the past two years. While it is not yet clear if this was linked to work-related stress, his death has put the spotlight back on the working conditions of resident doctors.

Describing the condition of PG residents, especially in bigger medical colleges, as “pathetic”, a doctor who recently completed her post-graduation in general medicine at Safdarjung Hospital, claimed, “There is no regulation of working hours for resident doctors. They are paid to work 48 hours a week, but instead they are forced to putin over 100 hours each week. Getting a PG degree from a government college is equivalent to going through continued abuse.”

Physician burnout, she added, was potentially dangerous not only for doctors, but also for their patients, as research has shown it to be linked to medical errors and found that overworked doctors are twice as likely to make one. “Unfortunately, the patients who are at the risk of human error often belong to the economically weaker sections, so not much is done to get the system rectified,” she said.

When contacted, there was no immediate response from Safdarjung Hospital.

Another resident doctor from the hospital’s general medicine department claimed junior residents also face harassment at the hands of senior doctors. “Imagine someone who has worked extremely hard to get into a government college, only to get humiliated by seniors every day. Seniors not only make juniors feel worthless, but also make them do menial work — from getting their food to paying for their meals. Not everyone can handle such pressure,” he added.

Many other resident doctors shared similar complaints, saying junior PG students face the brunt of the ‘toxicity’. The working environment, according to them, was the worst in departments such as surgery, orthopaedics, general medicine, and obstetrics and gynaecology.

According to Dr Sarvesh Pandey, general secretary, Federation of Resident Doctors Association, “The poor condition of PG resident doctors is an open secret. The government is starting morning and evening OPD, but have they opened any vacancies to operate these? The burden invariably lands on the shoulders of the residents. The root cause of their poor mental health is understaffed hospitals and lack of infrastructure.”

He added, “We have written multiple times to the Union health ministry to fill the pending vacancies in hospitals to bring down the workload. However, in most top medical hospitals, scores of posts are lying vacant.”

Last year, amid concerns over ragging and workload, National Medical Council, India’s apex medical regulatory authority, had asked all medical colleges to compile data on suicides and dropouts by undergraduate and postgraduate students in the past five years.