Stress takes a toll on lives of young medicos

Hyderabad: The passing away of a 28-year-old young doctor Poorna Chander, who had just completed his senior residency in general surgery from Gandhi Medical College, has put the spotlight on the inherent challenges and stressful lives that young doctors face on a daily basis.

While Dr Chander had already completed his residency and was looking forward to a promising future, the fact also remains that junior doctors face extreme expectations, pressure to perform well in academics and secure a good rank to pursue PG medical education, after their MBBS. They also have to deal with the daily high-stress filled situations to save lives and constant pressure from faculty, which tends to take a toll on mental health.

“There is no denying the fact that we have unrealistic expectations. There is also this urge among young doctors to become high achievers overnight, which doesn’t happen. We did not have to face this kind of pressure to excel from the society while pursuing MBBS and speciality courses. There’s definite need to have a holistic look at stress management among young doctors,” says Superintendent, Gandhi Hospital, Dr M Raja Rao.

There are numerous studies published in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry by clinicians on the growing evidence of increased prevalence of stress, depression, anxiety and feelings of burnout among medical professionals in India. Usually, they occur due to long working hours and negative patient-related outcomes, adverse doctor–patient interactions, and interpersonal interactions among the colleagues.

It is gruelling to become a practising doctor in India, as medicos undergo an intensive MBBS theory training for 4.5 years and another one-year of internship. Immediately after that, majority start preparing for PG entrance exams, which is quite tough to break.

Pursuing PG medical course itself is a rigorous process, as medicos need to navigate through the demand of patients, professors and their own personal life. “Completing PG medical course is highly stressful. Many are not mentally prepared and equipped with soft skills that are needed after they complete their courses. There’s a need to include such skill training programme for medicos,” says Dr R Naresh, who did his PG in pulmonology at Osmania Medical College and is now an Assistant Professor in KMC Warangal.