To study medical students' perspective on rising violence against doctors. Do they consider obstetrics and gynecology a risky branch?

Abstract

Background: In recent years, there has been an epidemic of violence against health professional in many nations including India. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has reported that 75% of doctors have faced physical or verbal violence during their lifetime. The objective of present study was to evaluate the medical student perspective on rising violence against doctors.Methods: This is a cross sectional questionnaire based study carried out at Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of medical Sciences and Research Amritsar. Undergraduate medical students from second year onwards, interns and post- graduate students of the institution were included in the study. Data was compiled and statistically analysed.Results: Total 497 medical students participated in the study. Among participants 327 (65.8%) were undergraduates, 106 (21.3%) were interns, 64 (12.9%) were postgraduate students 97.18% of students said that they were aware of rising incidents of violence against doctors. while 96% of participants said that they were concerned about the problem. For 86.1% students source of information of these incidents was social media. 82.5% participants said that doctors are at higher risk of being victim of violence than other profession. 89.1% of participants who had said that doctors are at higher risk of being victims of violence than other professions have said yes to the question that doctors need to be trained in martial arts. 70.2% said that these incidences would affect their future carrier choices. 60.8% Students said that certain specialties are more prone to receive violence than others. In response to an open-ended question which specialties are more prone, 83.6% participants had written surgical branches and obstetrics and gynecology.Conclusions: The study indicates that they find certain specialties more-risky and their inclination towards non- surgical branches for post-graduation.

Study on violence against doctors and its impact on career selection

“…This indicate that large indefinite quantity students will become doctors because they wanted so. [4] In the study conducted by Reena Sood et al, 82.5% participants have recorded that doctors are at higher risk of being victim of violence than other profession which is close with our study which reported 72%.…”

How trainee doctors and nurses react to simulated scenarios of violence against healthcare workers: A cross-sectional study

“…The age of our study participants ranged from 17-23 years, representing a relatively younger age group as compared to other studies which had interns, post-graduate students and doctors/nurses as the target population (11,12).…”

COVID-19 Readiness and Career Aspirations of South Indian Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study

“…Categorical data between the same groups were presented in terms of frequency count (n) and percentages (%). Continuous variable such the KAP score of students were subdivided into 3 categories for good level (score > 15), moderate level (score of [10][11][12][13][14][15] and low level (score < 10) for assessing prevalence of each category. KAP variable, detected to be not normally distributed on a Shapiro-Wilk test (W = 0.959, df = 304, p <0.001), was preserved as continuous variable for correlation analysis and Kruskal-Wallis (ANOVA) tests was employed to detect the degree of association between career aspirations pathway and KAP score.…”

“…It may also be perceived as a dangerous career option in the near future, evidenced by the ongoing incidences of violent assaults by bystander mobs, against health care workers in India and it may even cause medical students to abandon a career in medicine. [11][12][13][14] Meanwhile, only a small fraction of students are involved in biomedical research in their undergraduate days and even less are reportedly confident in clinical research as a career option. [15][16][17] A cross-sectional study from India reports, that those students with a higher academic acumen and those who concurrently involved in clinical research done outside the scope of their curriculum were more likely to take up research as a career option.…”