Heads of departments are talking to doctors

Condemning the letter of five anonymous residents of Gandhi Medical College (GMC), Hamidia Hospital, Bhopal threatening to commit mass suicide, the President of the Junior Doctors Association (JDA) of the college Dr. Sanket Site said, “I condemn the letter because it is contempt for the college we work at.”

“I am sorry for the claims they made, but we have to make sure that nothing of this kind (mass suicide) will happen,” he added, saying the university has initiated direct interaction with residents to understand their problems.

All this is the result of an ominous letter sent by five anonymous residents of GMC Bhopal threatening to attempt mass suicide on May 31 if their grievances are not addressed.

A post about a similar situation was sent to Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) Chairman Dr Rohan Krishnan on Monday, April 15. Sharing the letter on X (formerly Twitter), he wrote, “Dear Brothers/Sisters, pls remember that suicide not a solution. @FAIMA_INDIA_ stands with you.”

The letter highlighted toxic and long working hours, lack of breaks between work schedules, lack of morals, verbal abuse and more. The letter which began with “Hello poisonous” read, “day and night we are always smoking poison at Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal.”

“We are part of this toxic culture from time immemorial…,” it added.

Meet the principal
Meanwhile, Sanket Site told EdexLive that a meeting with the Dean of the college, Dr. Salil Bhargava, was held on April 15 and it was decided that individual meetings would be held to determine the residents’ concerns.

Following this, “Today, April 16, around 11 o’clock in the morning, the heads of several departments had a direct conversation with the residents and the elderly. However, so far, nothing has been reported about such concerns or complaints,” he added.

A big suicide note
Meanwhile, the letter has been gaining popularity on social media as various medical associations raise concerns and other doctors share their experiences with poisoning in the medical field.

According to the letter EdexLive has the ability to reach, the complaints mentioned by the residents are:

1. Working continuously for more than 24 hours without sleep, sometimes more than 36 hours

2. No holiday on Sundays, any holidays or even sick leaves

3. Verbal abuse by elders and counselors

4. Threats to fail the exam and withdraw the degree

5. Lack of morals, toxic culture and suffering

6. Deterioration of health just because a 10-15 minute break is given a day for food

“Resident doctors are not mentally healthy, because of poison and torture, they are sad, so how can you expect from them with ‘No room for error'”, the letter added, blaming that after the suicide of two residents in 2023 and earlier 2024, they felt changes would be made to reduce the existing toxic work culture. However, this was allegedly not done.

Therefore, the anonymous residents are now demanding that urgent steps be taken within two months to:

• Stop working non-stop hours, especially when they exceed 24 hours

• Ensure a healthy work environment

• Stop the poison and abuse

Failing to do so, the five residents are threatening to start a protest by attempting to commit suicide on May 31, 2024.

Help is pouring in
Extending their support, the FAIMA chairman tweeted, “@NMC_IND will also do everything possible to alleviate your situation. We will resolve this matter within twenty-four hours and do whatever is necessary to meet all three demands mentioned in the letter. A committee will be formed by this evening and a visit will be made by our representatives.”

Speaking to EdexLive, National Secretary Dr. RishiRaj Sinha of FAIMA said, “Since the letter is from unknown residents, we are trying to find those who wrote the letter and which department they belong to. And understand the truth of the accusations made.”

“Meanwhile, we spoke to the Personal Assistant (PA) of the Deputy Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Rajendra Shukla on April 15. We urged the government to initiate an inquiry into the letter,” he added, stressing, “Considering that we have seen two suicides in in the near future, we will not take that letter lightly.”

Suicide back at GMC
In January 2024, a 24-year-old junior doctor Dr. Akansha Maheshwari died by suicide. He overdosed on anesthesia and painkillers through a needle in his hostel room at GMC. In his suicide note, the first-year PG student in Pediatrics apologized to his parents and friends citing that he was not strong enough to take drastic measures, as reported in a report by Times of India.

In July 2023, 27-year-old PG resident doctor Dr Bala Saraswathi died by suicide. In his letter of surrender, he claimed that he took this extreme step due to being harassed by his college teachers.

In a survey conducted by EdexLive earlier, it was known that 78% of pharmacists are exposed to toxins in their workplaces.

To read the full report based on the survey, click here: