Suicide of 13 Residents in One Year; A Professional Official: Our Hope for the Future Has Diminished!

The representative of the 'Specialist Plan Doctors' in the Medical System Organization has announced that in the past year, '13 residents' lost their lives due to 'suicide.' Ali Solhshoor, the representative of the specialist plan doctors in the Medical System Organization, reported in an interview with the 'Ilna' news agency about the suicide of one of the residents in the 'past few weeks' and stated: 'From 1400 to 1401, meaning just within one year, thirteen residents have committed suicide.' He added that residents are forced to perform heavy work with 'meager salaries and without insurance and benefits,' and under these conditions, they 'have little hope for the future.' After completing their professional doctorate, doctors also undergo a 'practical and supplementary' training period, referred to as the 'medical assistant' or 'residency' period, and the individual is referred to as a 'resident.' The government-affiliated newspaper 'Iran' reported on February 14 that enduring 'long and consecutive shifts' and '540 hours monthly' in medical centers has created 'heavy consequences' for residents. According to the government organ, 'chronic and excessive fatigue of residents' and the creation of 'livelihood problems' have not only led to a 'severe decrease in the learning burden and quality of education, an increase in medical errors, and a reduction in service provision to patients' in medical centers but have also increased the rate of 'withdrawal from medical specialization studies.' Ali Solhshoor, representing the specialist plan doctors in the Medical System, stated that 'our hope for the future has diminished,' noting that while 'work pressure' existed in previous years, 'dissatisfaction with job conditions' was not at this level, and 'income was not astronomically distant from inflation and prices.' According to this doctor, numerous discussions have made 'migration' among doctors a common occurrence, with over '4,000 doctors' obtaining good standing certificates for migration last year, which is a 'terrifying number.' On June 1, 1401, statistics were released by the 'Iran Migration Observatory,' a subsidiary of Sharif University of Technology, in collaboration with the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology of Iran, indicating that '73% of doctors and nurses' expressed a desire to migrate due to 'country problems' and 'Iran's economic situation.' Meanwhile, increasing economic-social pressures and existing inequalities that have diminished the prospect of a bright future for some have led to the prevalence and increase of 'suicides' among various segments of Iranian society, from students to workers or doctors. The alarming statistics of youth suicide in Iran were discussed with Azita Saeian, highlighting the severe consequences of the economic crisis on society; the suicide of four workers from 'Petrochemical Chavar' in one year, suicide after dismissal; a Petrochemical Chavar worker in Ilam ended his life, and an unusual survey result showed that only 16% of participants stated they did not intend to migrate. Despite 20,000 to 30,000 unemployed nurses, the alarm of nurse shortages has sounded again in Iran, and the 'migration tsunami' in the Iranian medical community has reached 'specialists,' with a shortage of 70,000 nursing staff.