IMA seeks setting up counselling centres in medical colleges, teaching institutes
The Indian Medical Association(IMA) has requested for setting up counselling centres and a 24×7 helpline in all medical colleges and teaching institutions to help students deal with mental health issues.
The IMA has also launched an initiative named Doctors 4 Doctors(D4D) which aims at preventing burn out, address mental health challenges and reduce the incidents of suicide among residents and clinicians. The move came after Doctor Payal Tadvi, 26, allegedly committed suicide recently after facing harassment by her seniors at a state-run hospital in Mumbai.
“We will achieve this by creating awareness of the issue and using tools for emotional well-being. We will provide training for self-help and offer D-4-D Free Help Lines to those in need,” IMA national president Santanu Sen said. Being the largest association of doctors, IMA believes that doctors must care for all doctors, especially given the global picture of higher risk of depression and suicide among medical professionals. In the global level, the risk is 2.5 times higher among medical students and doctors, with those in the age group of 24 to 37 years being the most vulnerable segment. A study among clinicians in India has revealed that 45 per cent of the respondents scored high on emotional exhaustion with 87 per cent of the doctors scoring low on “personal accomplishments”.
Dr Nilima Kadambi, the chairperson of the IMA National Committee for Emotional Health and Wellbeing of Medical Students and Doctors in India says that D4D will tackle physician burnout and mental health at a system level through changes in policy and training.
IMA’s D-4-D team has already held awareness and self-help workshops for medicos on emotional well-being and burn out in Bengaluru, Pune, Delhi, Surat and Cochin and will soon organise it in Mumbai and other cities.
“It will offer a sustainable support system to bring about emotional wellbeing, robust resilience and coping capabilities among the medical students, residents and clinicians,” Dr Kadambi added.
Source: Deccan Herald.