Response of the Medical System to the Suicide of Parastoo Bakhshi; Formation of a 'Fact-Finding Committee' and Request for Accountability

Following the suicide of Dr. Parastoo Bakhshi due to pressures at work and from the national healthcare network, the Medical System Organization held an extraordinary meeting and announced the formation of a 'fact-finding committee' to address the perpetrators and those responsible for this incident. The website 'Khabar Online' reported that the police department and the judicial authorities of the organization and municipalities were mandated to investigate the relevant cases and take disciplinary action against the offenders. The suicide of this young doctor had recently made headlines, and the head of the Public Relations and International Affairs Department of the Iranian Medical System Organization stated that 'the level of depression among young doctors is unprecedented.' Ali Salhashour, in a post on his personal Instagram page, wrote that Dr. Bakhshi started her residency a year late after suffering two major traumas (the loss of her parents), and the Ministry of Health did not assist in relocating her residency. According to Salhashour, this young doctor was on the 'blacklist' of the ministry, which ignored her requests. Iranian news agencies also reported that one of the internal medicine professors at Rahimi Hospital in Khorramabad had shown 'extreme injustice, insult, and humiliation' towards her. Reports indicated that Parastoo Bakhshi's salary was also being paid 'partially' due to correspondence between the hospital's education officer and the hospital management, which contributed to the pressures leading to her suicide. This incident is not new among healthcare staff; on February 19, 2023, the head of the Iranian Psychiatric Association expressed concern over the high suicide rates among residents or specialized medical assistants in the country and criticized the Ministry of Health for keeping the exact statistics confidential and not disclosing them. Vahid Shari'at, in an interview with the state news agency 'IRNA,' reported that at least 16 residents or medical assistants had committed suicide across the country, according to the statistics from the Medical System Organization. Simultaneously, Mahmoud Fazel, the head of the Supreme Council of the Medical System, deemed the suicide rates among medical residents 'concerning' and announced the formation of a committee within the Medical System Organization to investigate this issue. In late January of last year, Iranian media reported a similar finding of a fivefold increase in the suicide rate within the medical community, stating that at least 13 suicides leading to death occurred annually among residents. Concerns about resident suicides and criticism of the Ministry of Health for keeping statistics confidential continue amidst the 'most unprecedented waves of migration' in Iran; predictions suggest the formation of a Ministry of Migration.