OutPhysicianDepartment: 4 senior doctors check out of AIIMS

Four senior faculty members have quit over the last three months citing professional dissatisfaction as a major reason in an institute which has been without a director since Dr P. Venugopal resigned on July 2 last year.

Dr R.K. Sharma, additional professor, department of forensic medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), was the most recent to quit last week. He was one of two doctors who opposed Deputy Director of Administration Shailesh Kumar Yadav’s candidature for PhD in forensic sciences.

Apart from Dr Sharma, Dr Rohini Handa, professor, depart of medicine, Dr Ashok Kumar, professor, department of medicine, and Dr S.C. Tiwari, professor, nephrology department, also put in their papers recently.

Out of these four, Dr Handa has already served his mandatory 3-month notice period and joined Indraprastha Apollo hospital. The remaining two are serving their notice periods.

Professional dissatisfaction, diminishing sense of pride associated with the institute and to some extent monetary disadvantage are said to be behind the move.

Dr Kumar, however, attributed the resignation to the desire of leading a relaxed life. “I have reached almost the retirement age and want to relax, that’s why I have put in my papers,” said Kumar who is joining Fortis.

Others have a different story to tell. “The environment at AIIMS is such that those who really want to work find it obstructive. These were people who served in this hospital for more than 20 years and look how they were treated. We won’t be surprised if more people followed their decision,” said a senior doctor on Acting director, Dr T.D. Dogra, however, trashed all the rumours. “It’s a totally transparent system, and if four-five people submitted their resignation out of a faculty of 600, that doesn’t mean the whole institute is going to shut down,” he said.