Ragging and toxic hierarchy remain concerns in Telangana medical colleges

Allegations of ragging, toxic hierarchy and lack of institutional support in medical colleges have resurfaced after incidents at Government Dental College and Osmania Medical College. Experts say systemic reforms are needed to address stress, harassment and mental health concerns among students.

Hyderabad: There is an undercurrent of ragging, toxic hierarchical structure and vindictive attitude by senior faculty in government dental and MBBS teaching hospitals, a fact that is seldom acknowledged in public, neither by senior BDS and MBBS students nor by established senior faculty.

Only when a tragedy strikes, like mass suspension of final-year BDS students at Government Dental College (GDC), Afzalgunj on Wednesday or the death by suicide of Dr Suresh Katravath, a first-year PG medical student at Osmania Medical College earlier this April, such issues flare-up, only to die down in few days.

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Immediately after Dr Suresh’s suicide, associations like TJUDA and HRDA, which represent junior doctors and senior residents, protested quite spiritidely. Later, senior health authorities including DME, Telangana and Principal of Osmania Medical College denied all allegations made by the parents of Dr Suresh and life moved on.

While the GDC incident specifically involved dental students, the phenomenon is equally prevalent across MBBS, BDS, and postgraduate medical programs. The shared-hostel culture, often seen in institutions like the one in Afzalgunj, creates a dangerous vacuum where administrative oversight becomes difficult.

While the first year dental students from GDC had the courage to report the incident of ragging by seniors, it is not necessary that other BDS and MBBS students are forthcoming.

Just last year, about 8 young doctors from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana had died by suicide. All of the suicides were related to severe stress due to pressure from seniors, work-related harassment from senior faculty and general dissatisfaction.

“For decades, ragging was loosely excused as a traditional ‘ice-breaker’ between seniors and juniors. However, in the high-pressure environments of MBBS and BDS courses, this has mutated into a pervasive culture of hazing that often targets the most vulnerable newcomers,” a senior government doctor said.

Prof. Dr. Vishal Akula, senior psychiatrist and National Direct Council Member of the Indian Psychiatric Society, believes that ragging and suicides demand systemic reforms in medical education and establishment of institutional support systems.

Medical students face disproportionate levels of stress, stigma, and burnout. When help is not easily available, or when students feel seeking support will affect their careers, the consequences can be fatal, he added.

• Implement mandatory anonymous reporting to allow students to report harassment/ragging without fear of academic retaliation

• Appoint external, non-faculty ombudsmen to handle grievances to ensure complaints against seniors/ faculty are investigated without bias.

• Integrate full-time, clinical psychologists into every medical/ dental college campus
• Conduct mandatory, confidential check-ins with first-year students to detect early signs of distress.

• Move away from shared or senior-controlled hostel models
• Separate living spaces will ensure first-year students reside in segregated, monitored, and secure zones with dedicated wardens

• Replace the informal, predatory ‘senior-junior’ culture with structured, faculty-supervised mentorship programs

• Strictly implement college suspensions