Mumbai: KEM to hire 3 psychologists to counsel its students

MUMBAI: In a bid to reduce stress in a medical student's life, the BMC-run KEM Hospital in Parel has advertised for three posts of counselling psychologists whose job would be to counsel its students.
The advertisement, dated June 16, asked for counselling psychologists on a contractual basis and offered a monthly salary of Rs 30,000. KEM dean Dr Sangeeta Ravat said, "A few decades back, most students in medical colleges were locals. But now over 70% of our students come from outside Mumbai. They are barely 18 years old, far away from their parents and pursuing one of the most difficult courses."
The idea of setting up a counselling cell came up last year, when many postgraduate resident doctors were under physical and emotional stress due to Covid duty. Also,several students from the college were booked for ragging last year.
The counselling cell will be located in the medical college building and will have a discreet entrance so that no student feels stigmatised. "Ideally, any student with adjustment/emotional/financial problems should be able to walk into the psychiatry department OPD, but we found that students don't feel comfortable with it,'' said a senior teacher who didn't want to be named.
Also, visiting the psychiatry OPD would entail them having to call their parents. "They may not want to tell their parents about being depressed about not having enough money to spend around,'' the teacher said. The counselling cell, on the other hand, will allow them to walk in and seek help.
Apart from the counselling cell, Dr Ravat also plans to assign medical teachers as mentors for students. "Already, 50 teachers have agreed to be mentors,'' she said.
While the KEM Hospital's 'Student Dosti Programme' is the first such initiative in the city, AIIMS in Delhi started student welfare centres a few years back. Dr Rajesh Sagar, professor, psychiatry department, AIIMS Delhi, said the welfare centre has specially appointed counsellors to help undergraduate or postgraduate students. "Medical students are especially vulnerable to stress because of their lifestyle that includes long hours in hospital. Resident doctors deal with life and death situations on a daily basis and they are away from home and overburdened with work," he said.
International studies have shown doctors have 2.5 times higher suicide risk than the general population. Considering that India is home to 1 million doctors, the number of vulnerable doctors could be high.
Dr Pratima Murthy, director of NIMHANS, Bengaluru, said the institute is working with the Indian Medical Association to set up psychosocial helplines for medical students across the country.