Medical colleges asked to form counselling panels in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: Following multiple cases of suicide by medical students, the Gujarat state branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA-GSB) has decided to set up committees at every medical college to monitor the mental health of students and provide them counselling.

Dr Mahavirsinh Jadeja, president of IMA-GSB, has written to all members asking for suggestions on how to address the issue of psychological issues among medical students and set up committees at colleges to provide counselling.

"It has become commonplace to hear about and witness unabated suicides on medical campuses in the past few years. It is no doubt a very disturbing, distressing and saddening trend that needs to be urgently addressed and the corridors of power need to frame norms for counselling to curb this at the earliest," the letter dated January 18 says.

The letter says stress is leading to depression in students. "The culprit may be in the corridors of the medical campus and may be linked to perfectionism, pressure, competitiveness and obsessiveness," the letter says.

The president asked all members of the association to reach out to medical students, parents, authorities of medical colleges and hospitals and extend support and counselling to improve the mental health situation of medical students.

"We have asked all medical colleges in the state to set up college-level committees with professors, psychiatrists, IMA-GSB members, representatives of medical students and parents," said Dr Mehul Shah, the state secretary of IMA.

He said these committees will monitor students' mental health by organizing counselling sessions, talking to teachers and parents and providing expert psychological counselling to students if needed.

He said the committee will talk to parents and ask them to consider their wards' wishes and aspirations. Shah said the committee will also update the government and higher authorities on the mental health situation on a regular basis.