A number of junior residents at Jipmer have raised allegations of mental and physical harassment against the head of department, medicine, and called for action against the senior faculty.
In recent complaints lodged with the Jipmer Dean (Academics), the residents alleged they were subjected to various forms of harassment at the hands of the department head during the three-year PG residency. They sought re-examination of the results of the exit examination on December 23 as they suspected they were deliberately failed in the practical segment by the faculty member.
When contacted via e-mail, Medicine HoD Vivekanandan M., directed queries on the charges to JIPMER higher authorities.
A Jipmer spokesperson said the complaint from a few residents about alleged harassment was “immediately handled at an appropriate level by the Institute administration”.
In one of the complaints, a resident accused the HoD of causing physical harm (pinching ears till they bleed/stabbing the scalp and arms with uncapped pen), and discriminatory behaviour.
These are also the crux of a complaint the student has lodged with the State Human Rights Commission, Tamil Nadu. His petition to the Raj Nivas grievance cell has been forwarded to Puducherry police for investigation.
One student who alleged “discriminatory actions and physical harassment throughout the three-year residency, accused the HoD of having “crossed professional boundaries by physically manhandling me”. The hostile environment not only affected his academic performance but took a toll on his mental and emotional well-being, the complainant said.
Another aggrieved student notwithstanding the credentials and achievements of the HoD, he had failed to be a fair and nurturing senior, and instead, “instilled in all of us extreme amounts of fear, which has driven some of us to develop mental health issues and even contemplate committing suicide”.
The student suspected the results of the MD General Medicine Professional Exit Examination were “primarily and severely prejudiced by the Head of the Department”.
Meanwhile, a petition to the Dean signed by 30 outgoing residents and alumni of the Department of Medicine raised concern that at least five residents had attempted self-harm over the past year or so.
It also claimed that one in every seven residents was on anti-depressants in the medicine department, which had a failure rate in the exit exam that was much higher than any other of the 28 odd clinical departments---five students had failed to clear the exit examination in general medicine whereas only in all other departments put together only three candidates did not clear the exit test.
The Jipmer Resident Doctors Association (JRDA) has come out in solidarity with the affected students.
The JRDA said it had received a complaint from residents of Jipmer Medicine alumni mentioning incidents of physical and verbal harassment during ward rounds, exams and academic programmes by a faculty in the medicine department for the past three to four years.
The Jipmer spokesperson, while affirming that the institution had promptly taken up these complaints at an appropriate level, said the Institute has several channels for an aggrieved employee or student to bring any issue that may bother him or her to the attention of the relevant authorities, and these are acted upon immediately and as necessary.
Jipmer is committed to ensure a safe and conducive working environment for all its employees, including resident doctors, and students, the spokesman said.
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416. and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050).
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