Nair Hospital to hold group discussions frequently

Mumbai: In the wake of Dr Payal Tadvi’s suicide at Nair Hospital, the issues of ragging and stress in medical colleges have come to the fore so much so that the dean of Nair Hospital has now decided to hold group discussions and brainstorming sessions with the resident doctors twice a month.

“We used to have student orientation programmes every six months, but now there is need to conduct them more frequently. The sessions will be conducted for the clinical departments every 15 days in collaboration with the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) and some counsellors,” said Dr Ramesh Bharmal, dean of Nair Hospital.

If the plan is a success at Nair Hospital, the rest of the major civic-hospitals are likely to follow  the suit. Psychiatrist Dr Sagar Mundada, who is also a member of the MARD, said, “This is not the first case of suicide by a resident doctor. In Maharashtra, at least two doctors commit suicide  every year. The resident doctors are overworked. It is a welcome move that the hospital will conduct frequent counselling sessions but the same should be sustained. Earlier too, the hospitals decided to hold such sessions but later discontinued them.”

A former professor of the psychiatry department of KEM Hospital said, “Doctors in government hospitals work at almost 150 per cent of their capacity due to excessive flow of patients. The resident doctors are under stress and have a hectic day. The senior resident doctors make juniors work more efficiently and the latter should take it in the right spirit. However, castiest remarks are not acceptable. It would be the rarest case if such discrimination was indeed carried out,” said a doctor who did not wish to be named.

“The brainstorming sessions will definitely help the residents to become  more resilient,” he added.