Last month in a shocking incident, Prakruthi Shetty, a 20-year-old MBBS student from a private college in the city, jumped to her death from the 6th floor of her hostel building on Monday. The tragic incident  sent shockwaves through the community.

Last week  in MMC Chennai, Dr.Maruthupandian 30 year old MCh student, was found dead in his flat. Previous night he was part of the team of organ retrieval and Liver transplantation and had left for home very late. As he did  not report back to duty next day, colleagues went and searched for him in his  flat and found him dead. He got married only 3 months back and his medico wife is also a post graduate student in Anaesthesia . 

The alarming increase in incidents of suicides among medical students and resident doctors is an unfortunate trend. News of four medical students and resident doctors committing suicide last week has unsettled the entire medical community.

Dr. Gianender Rao, a senior psychiatrist from Gurugram, emphasizes that although there is limited information on the causes of suicides among doctors and medical students, it is believed that academic stress is the primary cause for medical students and residents, while marital discord is seen as a major factor among doctors. Dr. Rao stresses the need to address this issue seriously, stating that timely intervention by mental health professionals can prevent the majority of these suicides.

Taking note of the rising incidents of suicides among medical students, the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) has written a letter to the Central Health Minister and the National Medical Commission, urging effective measures to be taken to prevent suicides among medical students and resident doctors. The letter suggests regulating work hours for resident doctors and ensuring strict adherence to relevant orders. FAIMA has also suggested the establishment of mental wellness centers and dedicated helplines in every medical college. Additionally, FAIMA has released a list of 10 psychiatrists and mental health experts as a national-level mental health task force for providing online services 24/7 for medical students and resident doctors.

The letter encourages medical students and resident doctors to contact psychiatrists or to use the dedicated helpline provided for students to seek assistance through a phone call without hesitation if they experience symptoms of anxiety or depression.

The United Private Clinics & Hospitals Association of Rajasthan (UPCHAR) has also urged NMC and MOHFW to take action to address the issue of academic stress among medical students and toxic work culture. Many doctors are writing on social media on this issue. Devashish Pal has written on the social media platform X that more than the working hours, it's about the place and environment where work happens.Pathetic doctor duty rooms with no drinking water & no proper toilets, frustrated seniors shouting abuses, making fun of junior doctors in front of patients during rounds, HODs treating resident doctors as their servants, and so many more things that need to change for the better rather than keeping an arbitrary cap on working hours. Most resident doctors are willing to work more and learn more. Make the place and environment such that people would love to work.

Dr Meet Ghonia, another social media user, says that NMC made suggestions to Medical Colleges for working hours and ragging a few months back. But in reality, it's only on paper. It's not followed actually! The country lost 4 young doctors in the last 15 days because of Working Hours/Harassment/Workplace-related issues. I sincerely request all the associations and members of NMC to look into this issue at ground level. We can't lose more young doctors."