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KEM resident doctors protest against poor work conditions

"I am fully frustrated with my work load and working hours with no weekly offs or holidays," said the student in her letter.

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Wearing black ribbons, KEM resident doctors protest at the hospital
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Close to 750 resident doctors of Parel's KEM Hospital wore black ribbons in protest on Friday, after a colleague working with the Orthopaedic Department attempted suicide by slashing his wrists last week. The doctor, who was admitted to ICU but was later taken home to Akola by his parents, had told authorities that he couldn't handle the work stress, as he could not sleep for more than three hours a day and did not even get to eat proper food.

Meanwhile, conditions are no better in other hospitals in the state. A first-year PG student of Swami Ramanand Teerth Medical College in Ambejogai, Marathwada, on Friday, wrote an open letter to the Medical Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), penning down her frustrations.

"I am fully frustrated with my work load and working hours with no weekly offs or holidays," said the student in her letter.

The Ambejogai hospital has three units for General Medicine, with one post-graduate student in each. According to MARD, ideally there should be three resident doctors in each unit or at the very least, two.

She added, "Each resident doctor has to be on a 30-hour emergency duty twice a week, and attend to up to 150 patients in the Outpatient Department (OPD) thrice a week. Apart from that, they manage male and female wards, isolation wards and Intensive Care Unit (ICU). I am suffering from lack of sleep and keep falling sick repeatedly. I am in depression and often get suicidal thoughts. I feel like resigning."

In Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital, four resident doctors are taking treatment for work-related stress and clinical depression. "The resident doctors are clinically depressed as they are not being able to speak to their family members due to long working hours. They are on anti-depressants for the last one year," said a psychiatrist at GT Hospital.

Maharashtra has close to 4,000 resident doctors in 14 government-run medical colleges. They have to, on a daily basis, face long working hours, lack of proper diet and susceptibility to infections.

MARD has been sending repeated representations to the state government, requesting them to follow the Supreme Court order of 1987, which mandates that the resident doctors should not work for more than 48 hours a week. "In spite of the letters, no relief has been granted. The residents end up working double the hours they are mandated to work, which leads to drastic consequences," said Dr Sagar Mundada, President, MARD.

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