AIIMS-Patna is staring at a possibility of losing few of its senior residents to government-run hospitals.
The government formed a special panel in May to select senior residents for the state-run hospitals. The initiative was aimed at filling vacancies for the position in the different medical college and hospitals following repeated prod from the Medical Council of India on the lack of senior residents. Interviews were conducted recently and 20 and odd senior residents of AIIMS-Patna qualified for it.
Amarjeet Kumar, a senior resident in the anaesthesia department of AIIMS Patna, qualified in the interview. He later changed his mind against joining the government's residency programme though.
He, however, revealed why he had earlier thought of joining it. "It is up to the AIIMS administration whether it would give extension to its senior residents or not. All the senior residents here are working on ad hoc basis. So there is a sense of insecurity."
The government's residency programme allows the medics to work for three years but the salary structure of AIIMS-Patna is better. While senior residents at the state-run hospitals get around Rs 45,000 a month, those at AIIMS-Patna get around Rs 75,000. But then, working at government hospitals allows senior residents to pursue private practice which they cannot do being with the super-speciality hospital.
A doctor in the anaesthesia department of AIIMS-Patna said: "Three of my 11 senior residents qualified in the interview conducted by the state government but I am sure they would not leave. We have convinced them that very soon their services would be regularised. At present, the senior residents are working on ad hoc basis - they have a three-month tenure."
Another doctor in the surgery department said: "Senior residents continue to work in the state-run hospitals beyond the three-year tenure, which makes the position almost a permanent one. However, that is not the norm - senior residents are supposed to sit for a separate examination to be eligible for being recruited as doctors. So, this must be another reason why the senior residents at AIIMS-Patna are taking interest in the government's programme."
Mohammad Farman, a senior resident in the orthopaedics department set to join Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital, Bhagalpur, in few days, said: "I decided to opt for the government's senior residency programme. I didn't feel secure at AIIMS-Patna because I was working on contract for three months. What if any day the AIIMS administration asked me to leave?"
A senior resident in the skin department about to join Patna Medical College and Hospital echoed Farman. The resident said: "I did not have any stability in my previous job because I was working on ad hoc basis. At a state-run hospital, I would be working for three years and be able to pursue a private practice as well. So financially, I will be more secure."
Although senior doctors in the different AIIMS departments are working at convincing their residents, the director, G.K. Singh, is not too worried. He said: "It (the chance of senior residents leaving) would have no impact on AIIMS-Patna. If the senior residents leave AIIMS, we would recruit new people in the vacated positions. Besides, senior residents always work under the supervision of doctors. They can't replace doctors so far as patient's treatment is concerned."
