JIPMER has No Provision for 10-day Family Vacation to MBBS, PG medicos as recommended by Task Force, reveals RTI
Pondicherry: Despite the National Task Force on Mental Health and Well-being of Medical Students recommending a 10-day family vacation for MBBS and postgraduate medical students, till now no such provision is available at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), revealed a Right to Information (RTI) application.
Filing the RTI, the National President of the United Doctors’ Front (UDF), Dr. Lakshya Mittal raised the issue of family vacation. He pointed out the recommendations made by the National Task Force stating that medical colleges could consider granting a ten-day vacation at least once a year to both undergraduate and postgraduate medical students on a rotational basis.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that in its report, the Task Force mentioned, “Medical colleges could consider granting a ten-day vacation at least once a year to both undergraduate and postgraduate medical students on a rotational basis. This break is aimed at fostering family bonding. Addressing family-related stressors identified in surveys and discussions, this vacation ensures students return refreshed and better able to focus on their academic responsibilities.”
“However, this vacation should not interfere with completing the mandatory syllabus, clinical training, lab work, thesis, and curriculum. Any such interference will result in the mandatory training as per NMC guidelines taking precedence,” it further added.
Referring to this, Dr. Mittal in this RTI application sought to know about the action taken to comply with this suggestion till date, to include this provision for 10 days family vacation in PGMER 2023 for implementation of this suggestion.
Also Read: Mental well-being of doctors: Here are NMC’s complete recommendations
He also referred to Point 5.5 specifying the leave rules in PGMER 2023 and pointed out that as per these rules, every PG student will be given minimum 20 days of paid leave (casual leave) per year and academic paid leave of 5 days per year. He mentioned that despite such clear rules, many institutes are not following these rules. In this regard, he sought the information with related documents regarding action taken for implementation of the leave rules. Further, he sought to know the details of any action taken for violating the leave rules causing mental health issues to the students.
In response, JIPMER informed that undergraduate students are granted 30 days of vacation and 10-14 days of study leave every year. “Only 75% of attendance is mandatory to appear in the exam,” the institute added.
Further providing the details of leave granted to Academic Junior and Senior Residents (MD/MS/MDS and DM/MCh), JIPMER informed that Junior Residents are given 30 days of leave during first year, and 36 days of leave each in 2nd and 3rd year of their study. The days of leaves granted to the Senior Residents during their 1st, 2nd and 3rd year is 24 days, 36 days and 36 days respectively.
Apart from this, the institute informed that as academic leave (over 3 year), the JRs are given 9 days and SRs are given 7 days. The duration of maternity and paternity leave (SRs), granted as JIPMER, is 6 months and 15 days respectively.
Commenting on the matter, Dr. Mittal told Medical Dialogues, “An RTI filed by me has revealed that despite the recommendation in NMC- National Task Force Report to provide a 10-day family vacation to both undergraduate and postgraduate medical students, no such provision has been implemented yet at JIPMER, Puducherry—an Institute of National Importance under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.”
“According to the reply, undergraduate students get 30 days of vacation and 10–14 days of study leave per year, while PG residents have a structured leave format. However, the suggested 10-day family vacation aimed at promoting mental well-being and family bonding has not been incorporated, and many institutions continue to ignore NMC’s leave regulations. This issue again highlights the widening gap between policy and implementation,” he added.
“It’s high time for regulatory bodies and medical institutions to prioritize the mental health and work-life balance of medical students and resident doctors,” Dr. Mittal further mentioned.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the final Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023 (PGMER 2023), which were published in the official Gazette on 29.12.2023, lay down the rules and regulations regarding admission, counselling, and other details related to the postgraduate medical courses.
As per the leave rules, specified in PGMER 2023, the PG students will be given leave as per the following rules:
a. Every post-graduate student will be given minimum 20 days of paid leave (casual leave) per year.
b. Subject to exigencies of work, post-graduate students will be allowed one weekly holiday.
c. Female post-graduate students shall be allowed maternity leave as per existing Government rules and regulations.
d. Male post-graduate students shall be allowed paternity leave as per existing Government rules and regulations.
e. In addition to 20 days’ paid leave, the candidates will be allowed academic paid leave of 5 days per year.
Further, the regulations mentioned that if a “candidate avails leave in excess of the permitted number of days, his/her term of course shall be extended by the same number of days to complete the training period. However, one shall be able to appear in the examination if one has 80% (eighty per cent) of the attendance.”