Due tocontinuous incidences of medical students’ suicides and assaults on resident doctors, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), under its Doctors4Doctors project, has come out with e-book ‘MBBS — A guide to well-being for medical students’. Experts from IMA and While Swan Foundation have drafted this booklet and is available for free online.

The book covers practically every aspect — from common struggles of MBBS students who come from other states and cities, their mental well-being, the way to deal with stress, how to handle ragging, discrimination and victimization, and dealing with difficult people at medical college. Although IMA is going to promote this booklet in medical colleges, the authorities of Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) are also considering to include it as a reference book for first year MBBS students.

Dr Ravi Wankhedkar, former IMA national president said that suicides among doctors is a matter of serious concern, especially in recent years. A recent study of medical professionals have shown that the rate of suicides is 30% more in doctors as compared to other professions. Therefore, IMA has taken the initiative in 2018 and had started drafting this booklet.

The D4D forum was established with anobjective to prevent burnout, address mental health challenges and decrease the incidence of suicide among clinicians at an individual, institutional and national level. A psychiatrists’ sub-committee was also formed to deal with these issues.

He further said that they had included nationally renowned experts of all parameters — right from psychology to diet and yoga — in this initiative. They have written articles in very simple format and have presented it in engaging manner.

IMA has already approached all health universities in the country to include this book in their syllabus and MUHS is considering it certainly.

Dr K D Chavan, registrar of MUHS said that the syllabus for MBBS was revised after a gap of 21 years recently. In this new format, students will also get lessons on gender sensitivity, communication skills, lifestyle diseases, behavioral sciences and medical jurisprudence during their MBBS course. The current booklet by IMA can be a good reference reading material for them.

Few tips in the book

How to face bullying, discrimination and ragging: Harassment of all kinds’ right from cyber bullying to racist bullying, physical, emotional and sexual abuse, ragging etc.

How to deal with grief: How to handle a loss of a friend, break-up of a romantic relationship, divorce in the family, loss of a job or death of a loved one.

How to handle psychological issues: Depression, anxiety and stress-related disorders, suicidal ideation or attempting suicide.

Dealing with difficult people: How to keep focus while dealing with medicine suppliers, seniors, patients, and their relatives.

How to seek help: Contacts of counsellors, psychologists, psychiatric social workers, and various helpline numbers by IMA and other groups and mental health apps.