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Govt cracks down on medical residency hazing
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin issued a ministerial regulation last week that formally banned all forms of hazing in government-owned teaching hospitals and launched a bullying reporting platform for medical residents.
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Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin issued a ministerial regulation last week that formally banned all forms of hazing in government-owned teaching hospitals and launched a bullying reporting platform for medical residents. (Shutterstock/Monkey Business Images)
T
he Health Ministry is redoubling its efforts to stop the rampant bullying of doctors in medical specialist training, promising to take "stern measures" to end a decades-long cycle of harassment.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin issued a ministerial regulation last week that formally banned all forms of hazing in government-owned teaching hospitals and launched a bullying reporting platform for medical residents.
The regulation enumerates actions that constitute bullying during medical residencies, including hitting, punching, biting, name-calling, harassing, mocking, blackmailing, ignoring, treating residents as personal assistants and demanding that residents pay for items that are unrelated to their education.
If found guilty, offenders face sanctions ranging from a warning to expulsion from the teaching hospital, depending on the severity of the violation.
Victims of bullying, or their friends or family members, can report incidents anonymously through a ministry website or a WhatsApp hotline, and a team from the ministry' inspectorate general will investigate the case.
Budi said the team would ensure that victims remained anonymous and protected after reporting instances of bullying. The ministry would also provide psychological and legal counseling if necessary.
"We want to create a safe, comfortable and conducive environment for doctors to learn so that they can graduate to become medical specialists who have strong empathy and humanity," he said.
