The Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) discussed initiatives for the mental health and well-being of resident doctors during a first-of-its-kind town hall meeting on Sunday, January 7.

The meeting was organised by the MUHS Vice-Chancellor Dr Madhuri Kanitkar, as per a press release shared by the central Maharashtra State Association of Resident Doctors (MARD).

During the meeting, it was discussed that the association will work together with the university to ensure the mental health and well-being of resident doctors.

For this purpose, a programme named 3M will be curated where the residents will be encouraged to explore their talents through MARD, taking the lead in the formation of clubs like scientific, art and hobby, serving as stress buster activities.

MARD will be working with team Code Blue who have expertise in helping those who are facing mental health challenges, the press release dated January 8, Monday, announced.

Other discussions

Apart from the mental health concerns of the resident doctors, several other issues were discussed during the town hall meeting on Sunday.

It was clarified by the vice-chancellor that the new Post Graduate Medical Education Regulation (PGMER) guidelines including the E-log book, BCLS and ACLS certificates, GCP certificates, (full forms, please) will not be taken up for the 2021-2022 batch. 

Apart from this, it was added that the tentative date for the 2021-22 batch will be December 2024 to January 2025 (tentative date for what?) and their thesis submission will be around June 2024.

The issue of the “oppressive attitude” of faculty members towards the resident doctors was also raised during the meeting. The VC emphasised the importance of mental well-being and suggested the inclusion of communication of issues of postgraduates (PGs) by MARD through the Central Maharashtra State Medical Teachers Association (MSMTA) channel and MUHS.