NEW DELHI: The National Medical Commission (NMC) on Wednesday directed medical colleges to impart post-graduate courses to ensure their students’ mental health and well-being by ensuring they get adequate rest, weekly offs, counselling, sanctioned leaves and conducive working environment.
The Commission has also asked these colleges to submit action-taken reports on the issue and the practice they follow, with special mention of cases of suicide, gender bias and incidences of dishonour to a woman’s decency.
The Commission’s directions came following grievances from Post Graduate (PG) resident doctors stating that they are under stress and depression due to long working hours, no weekly off, non-sanctioning of leave during emergencies etc.
The issue has been flagged in the print media and also raised in Parliament, said the president of the Post-Graduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB), NMC, Dr Vijay Oza, in his letter to directors/principals/deans of the medical colleges and institutions imparting post-graduate courses in the country.
The PGMEB, in a meeting on June 28, discussed the grievances and decided that all medical colleges should take care of the mental health and well-being of the PG students by ensuring they get adequate rest, weekly offs, and counselling if necessary.
The institutions should arrange yoga sessions regularly, sanction leaves when required and respect the dignity of the students by providing a positive and conducive working environment, the board decided.
It also suggested that a committee may be constituted to look into the complaints/grievances, including anonymous complaints/grievances which may be submitted by PG students either through mail or received in a drop box, specially placed for this purpose.
“A healthy and stress-free resident doctor is critical not only for his/her well-being but also for the well-being of the patients he/she treats,” the letter said.
Welcoming the move, FAIMA Doctors Association, in a tweet, said, “We appreciate the move by the NMC and union ministry of health for issuing an advisory to all medical colleges of PG students and giving them suitable relief as and when required.”