A silent crisis unheard: 119 medical students commit suicide in five years

During the same time frame, about 1,116 medical students, including 160 MBBS and 956 PG students, dropped out of their respective medical programs

Hyderabad: In the last five years, 119 medical students, out of which 64 were undergraduates (MBBS) and 55 PG (MD/MS) students, from across the country have died by suicide.

During the same time frame, about 1,116 medical students, including 160 MBBS and 956 PG students, dropped out of their respective medical programs.

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The suicide and drop-out data of young doctors, shared a few days ago by National Medical Commission (NMC) to a Right to Information (RTI) query from United Doctors Front (UDF), is a silent cry from doctors that has gone unheard for decades.

Adding to these concerns, the RTI reply also disclosed that there were 1680 complaints filed by MBBS/PG medical students against management of the medical college over negligence and proper redressal of grievances.

The crisis of burn-out, extreme mental stress, neglect and bureaucratic apathy towards easing the workload among young doctors is real and is happening not only in Hyderabad but across the country.

A similar RTI filed earlier revealed that between 2018 and 2022, about 64 MBBS and 58 PG medical students had committed suicide. The NMC also had earlier reported that between 2020 and 2022, about 68 medical students from 531 medical colleges had died by suicide.

Why are medical students committing suicides?

“There is no denying the link between intense academic pressure, frequent exams, sky-high expectations and burn-out. There is a definite need for stricter anti-harassment and ragging policies in medical colleges, ensuring that working-hours of PG doctors are not over extended and young MBBS and PG medical students are properly mentored,” says vice-chairman, Telangana State Medical Council (TSMC),” Dr G Srinivas.

Senior doctors have pointed out that severe academic pressure among MBBS students, exaggerated duty hours, inadequate rest and hostile work environment is causing burnout.

“Due to all these conditions, there is a high prevalence of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation among medical students compared to general population. There have been surveys that indicate that undergraduate and PG medical students have a lot of mental health issues and suicidal thoughts. The irony is that they hesitate to reach out for mental health support or help because of stigma,” says senior Government neuro-psychiatrist and de-addiction specialist, Dr Vishal Akula.

Some of the other major issues that medical students have to deal with while pursuing academics and clinical training in medical colleges are toxic work culture, fear of failure and no effort on workload management.

What needs to be done?

· Stricter anti-harassment and anti-ragging strictures

· Mandatory counselling, stress management sessions, Yoga classes

· Mentoring group for mental health support

· Awareness to reduce stigma attached to seeking mental health support

· Regulate working hours and harassment from senior doctors