Medical students are full of depression, anxiety, stress! Will NMC take 15 important measures to save these doctors?

The National Task Force formed for the mental health and well-being of medical students has submitted its report to the National Medical Commission (NMC). According to the report, depression, anxiety and stress are taking a heavy toll on medical students. Taking serious note of the suicides of medical students and the increasing stress on them, NMC had formed a 15-member National Task Force of professors and medical experts from medical institutions across the country. It took feedback from about 38 thousand students and faculty members through an online survey. It tried to get to the bottom of the problem by talking to experts and staff members associated with medical colleges.

Committee member Dr. Yogendra Malik says that the common thing that has emerged from different studies is that depression, anxiety and stress have been found to be a major problem for medical students. The task force has made several major recommendations, including a weekly off, 10-hour duty for five days, 10-day leave to visit family, restarting supplementary exams, giving exam results by roll number, imposing heavy fines on colleges that intentionally fail students in semesters, e-complaint portal and other important suggestions.

More than 50% suffer from anxiety

In India, one has to pass a very tough competitive examination to get admission in a medical college. After that, issues like becoming a good doctor, burden of family expectations, hostel, exams, fear of ragging dominate the students. A regional study of South India says that 37% of medical students are suffering from depression, 51% from anxiety and 33% from stress.

At the same time, referring to the study of North India, the task force has said that depressive disorder was seen in 21.5% students and major depressive disorder in 7.6%. The prevalence of depression is 8.5-71%. In 16 studies conducted on 3882 students, 39% medical students were found to be suffering from depression. At the same time, in 4 studies conducted on 686 students, 35% were found to be suffering from anxiety and in 28 studies conducted on 5354 students, about 51% were found to be suffering from stress.

How many medical students commit suicide every year?

Hesitancy about seeking help for mental illness included feeling deficient in personality, preference for informal counselling, concerns about confidentiality, lack of awareness, fear of inappropriate intervention, lack of time, lack of convenient access to treatment, preference to self-manage problems.

NMC has learnt from National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and other sources that 122 medical students have committed suicide in the last 5 years. These include 64 undergraduate and 58 post graduate students. Thus, around 25-26 medical students commit suicide in a year. However, according to some other data, up to 74 students commit suicide every year. The reason for such a difference may be the data reporting system.

Citing a study conducted by an organization Chahal in 2022, the report states that 358 suicides were recorded from January 2010 to December 2019. Of these, 125 were medical students, 128 were physicians and 105 were residents. A recent study on 787 medical students revealed that 37 percent had suicidal thoughts, 11 percent planned to commit suicide, 3 percent attempted suicide and 7 percent were those who could take such a step in the future.

NMC task force made 15 major recommendations

• The duty hours of resident doctors should not exceed 74 hours a week.
• One day weekly off is compulsory.
• There should be a 24-hour shift for one day and 10-hour shifts for five days.
• 7 to 8 hours of sleep is very important for a doctor.
• There should be no shortage in hostel facilities.
• NMC should start E COMPLAINT PORTAL for instant redressal of students’ problems.
• Undergraduate and postgraduate students should be given a family vacation break of at least ten days every year on a rotational basis so that the students can meet their families and tell them about their problems.
• The result should be released on the basis of roll number and should not be published with the name of the student.
• Universities should restart supplementary exams so that if a student does not perform well, he/she/she can appear in the supplementary exam again
• It has come to the notice of the task force that many medical colleges deliberately fail students in order to collect fees from them again. Heavy penalties should be imposed on colleges doing so.
• There should be an orientation program on joining a medical college, the student should be assured that this campus is safe for him/her. he/she should be informed about the anti-ragging cell and its number. There should be regular checking in the hostel.
• The college should also keep in touch with the family members and in case of any problem, the family should be informed.
• There should be counselling service in every medical college and campus placement should be strengthened.
• There should be a staff-students clinic in the college, where they can talk about their health-related problems.
• Seats for PG and super specialty courses should be increased.

These recommendations must be implemented

Suicide and stress among medical students is a worrying aspect. Now questions are being raised in the country about their safety in colleges and hostels. Through its recommendations, the National Task Force has tried to convey that major reforms are needed in medical colleges. NMC will have to implement these recommendations at all costs. NMC is going to take initiative in this direction.

There is a recommendation to end the seat leaving bond policy in medical colleges. If a student studying medicine wants to leave a medical college midway, then under the bond policy he/she is asked to deposit a huge amount. Now this policy can be ended. The task force has tried to get to the root of the problem in its report of more than 150 pages, but it will be beneficial only when the government takes these recommendations seriously.