Fear of violence, criminal prosecution at work and inability to catch even seven hours of sleep on most days seem to be foremost among the many ills that physicians have to deal with across India
An all-India survey released by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), the largest Association of alopathic doctors, recently found that 82.7 % of the doctors in the country feel stressed out in their profession.
The survey found that fear of violence was the main source of stress for as many as 46.3% of the doctors surveyed, followed by fear of being sued (24.2%), while 13.7% feared criminal prosecution.
The online survey was conducted over a period of 15 days with responses from 1,681 doctors including general practitioners, physicians, surgeons, gynaecologists and super-specialists working in private OPDs, nursing homes, corporate hospitals or government hospitals.
“It is an eye-opener about the extent to which doctors have been affected. About 62.8% of the doctors surveyed are unable to see their patients without any fear of violence and 57.7% have thought of hiring security in their premises,” the survey notes.
IMA national president K.K. Aggarwal said the medical profession was undergoing some of the toughest times today with its integrity at stake.
“This survey was aimed at analysing how happy and satisfied doctors are with their profession. The results prove the fact that doctors are not very happy with what they are doing and a large part of it is due to lack of patient trust in them,” noted a press release issued by the Association.
The IMA noted that emotional, mental, and physical attacks on doctors are at an all-time high. More than half of those surveyed indicate that they suffer from increasing anxiety.
