FIVE JUNIOR DOCTORS OF GMC LEAVE THEIR JOBS

PANJIM: All the five junior residents working in the neurosurgery department of the Goa Medical College have quit en-masse "disrupting" smooth functioning of the important department of the premier health care institution in the state.

The Dean of GMC, Dr V N Jindal confirmed that he has accepted the resignations of the junior residents. He went on to add that the term of the junior residents had come to an end and that the government had given them extension but they refused to accept extension and quit their jobs.

Dr Ponraj K Sundaram, professor and head of the department of neurosurgery, said that the quitting of junior residents has not affected the functioning of the department, which now was being managed by the senior residents, who are putting extra hours to cope with the workload. He further said that the junior residents left the service for better prospects.

However, according to top sources in the GMC, the junior residents allegedly resigned after they encountered serious problems in discharge of their duties particularly in view of them being made to also carry out the duties that normally should have been handled by the senior residents.

The sources further said that the "highhandedness" of the senior residents in making the junior residents attend all the cases at the casualty department was resented by the junior residents, who time and again brought it to the notice of their seniors but failed to get a favourable response.

The sources further said that senior residents wanted the junior residents to first see all the patients with neurosurgical problems and only if something serious was noted by them in CT Scan or any other radiological examination would they come to see the patients, which made the juniors feel that they were made to "overwork" prompting them to quit their jobs. – NT