Dr John Mohan Razu
In India there is desire or craze commonly found amongst students, to pursue medicine.Majority of students while in high school studies want to pursue medical education. Wanting to pursue medicine may also be due to other factors. Nonetheless somehow, they get into that mode of thought process. Nonetheless, the process involved to enter into medical college in India continues to remain a herculean task. Stringent process is meticulously employed by the concerned ministry of the Government at the Centre such as Common Entrance Tests--NEET
Since NEET is nation-wide competitive examination to enter into medication education, the aspirants across the country would try their chances. Prior to the examination the aspirants enroll in tutorials to do well in the open competition. Having gone through the strenuous process and successfully entering into the medical education, National Medial Commission (NMC) responding to RTI plea published in “The Times of India”, dated February, 24, 2024, came out with mind-boggling and worrisome figures that stuns those concerned about the present and future and those who wants to know the reasons students’resorting to commitsuicides and dropping out of medical education.
Having worked hard and secured admission in colleges that offer medical education shows the appalling data that National Medical Commission disclosed in response to an RTI plea that at least 122 medical students, 64 in MBBS and 58 in post-graduate courses, died by suicide. In addition, 1270 dropped out in the last five years. shat least which with their hard work secured. NBA adding further, of those who dropped out, 153 were in MBBS and 1,117 in post-graduate courses. “One out of 64 MBBS students and four out of 58 post-graduate medicos who died by suicide were from Delhi. Among dropouts, those MBBS students and 155 post-graduate students were from Delhi between 2018 and 2022”
President of Federation Resident Doctors Association (Forda), Dr. Aviral Mathur, said that though “these statistics shed light on complex issues that extend beyond academic pressures alone. While the rigorous demands of medical education undoubtedly contribute to student stress, it is important to recognize that the underlying reasons for these suicides are multifaceted”. Adding further, “Exaggerated duty time (stretching without breaks up to 36 hours on certain days), inadequate rest, hostile work environments created by some toxic seniors and a lack of time-off for PG students are significant factors contributing to burnout and mental health challenges”.
According to Mathus, many institutes still lack proper redressal mechanisms and counselling services for vulnerable students. Added to the mix are family-based stress factors which coupled with immense academic workload and clinical responsibilities, create a challenging environment for students. Additionally, language barriers, especially for students from diverse backgrounds, further exacerbates their difficulties in acclimatizing to medical education. Elaborating, on it “One of the main reasons of this alarming suicide data is a punitive system that discourages them from dropping out. This exerts psychological pressure on budding doctors and forces them to suicides”, according to Chairman of FAIMA Dr. Rohan Krishnan.
He further pointed out that in Delhi, there no uniform bond policy. While the central medical colleges Lady Hardinge, Safdarjung and RML hospital, and Delhi government’s Maulana Azad medical college and UCMS, do not have any bonds, Army College and ESI have them. “In these colleges, if students want to leave after admission, they must pay a Rs.50 lakh penalty and will not be able to give exams for next three years. The amount of the bond varies from state to state,” Krishnana said. The report while concluded say that “Experts attributed the trend to policy failure on part of government and the commission, and stressed the need for a free exit for students who don’t want to continue”.
This is the current state of affairs of India’s medical education. A short write up with facts and figures ripped opened the sorry state of affairs of those with dreams, hopes, and longing joined medical education, but in-between their entry and exist many thingshappened. The reasons attributed for their suicides and discontinuance are just a tip of the iceberg. Underneath there could many more reasons surfacing if we go deeper. Not just medical colleges and higher levels of institutes that are engaged in technology and medicine have similar stories and would have decided identical ends. Entire information came to the public because RTI who wanted to know the inside story.The number is growing year after year by committing suicides and resorting to other means. Ando those responsible should take note of.
Over and above, there should a thorough, impartial, and objective inquiry to find out those who resort to suicides or drop-out to which social category or caste they hail from. Medical colleges and technological institutes are the apex academia that produces top doctors and technologists for the country as well as globally. SCs and STs who enter into these colleges due to varied factors end-up their lives by committing suicides because there is no option to exit because of varied reasons. In sum, the government of the day should take into account the alarming figures that keeps rising and so those responsible find ways and means to address the follies.
