AIIMS Rishikesh DRESS CODE: Medicos without scrub suits to be marked ABSENT

Dehradun: After the controversial issue of code of conduct, The Rishikesh branch of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS Rishikesh) has once again fallen in the limelight after it issued a " Scrubs Mandatory" order to its medical practitioners. The order has drawn a sharp response from the medicos of the institute who were seen taking to social media platforms and calling the order oppressive

AIIMS Rishikesh recently made it mandatory for all its doctors and allied medical practitioners to wear a scrub suit in OPD, IPD, OT, Trauma and Emergency Wards of the hospital. Entry in these wards without the prescribed dress code (scrub suits) has been strictly prohibited. Moreover, violation of norms will bring disciplinary action

Confirmation to this effect comes following a circular issued by AIIMS Rishikesh director Dr Ravi Kant on July 6. The recent office order issued by Director AIIMS has mandated observing a dress code. The order states;

• Scrub suits are mandatory clothing worn by Surgeons, Nurses, Physicians and other healthcare workers involved in patient care in the hospitals.


• Entry of Faculty, Residents, Interns are strictly prohibited without a scrub suit in OPD/IPD/OT/Trauma and Emergency.


• In absence of prescribed dress code(Scrub Suit), attendance of Faculty/Residents/Interns will be marked as absent.

The order immediately drew a response from the Medicos of the institute. Besides terming the order as oppressive, the doctor further added that with just one changing room for each department with around 60 doctors they have to wait in long lines for changing their scrub suit after visiting the wards and OPDs.

After the hefty fee structure (admission, tuition, library, examination, etc) far above the one stipulated in the Prospectus of the Common Entrance Examination conducted by AIIMS, Delhi, this is yet another dictatorial rule. https://t.co/MlbopqFOvl

— RDA AIIMS Rishikesh (@aiims_rda) July 6, 2019

Prior to this, AIIMS Rishikesh on January 23, had issued a sort of code of conduct for its MBBS students. The decision had faced backlash from the medicos who had termed the abovementioned dress code as "

Tuglaqi Farman", and demanded an immediate withdrawal of the dress code instructions for MBBS students at AIIMS Rishikesh.

Also Read: AIIMS Rishikesh spells Code of Conduct for MBBS students, faces backlash

Similarly, the present decision is facing severe backlash from over 500 resident doctors of AIIMS Rishikesh. The Union of resident doctors has announced an agitation against the "oppressive" directions of the college administration.

Medicos have alleged that the director of the institution has put in place a random direction of making scrub suit mandatory for all faculty and resident doctors in the medical college campus.

Also Read: Dress Code Backlash: Medicos Association files Petition against Grant Medical College Dean

According to a report by TOI, in the absence of dressing rooms, the junior doctors and faculty members are being compelled to wear the scrub suits for the entire day and it has become a dress code for them.

"Since we cannot change the suit, we are going to the washrooms, to the mess as well as in the wards in the same clothes. With this decision, the director wants us to look like school students but is ignoring the fact that it is highly unhygienic, " a resident doctor on condition of anonymity told TOI.

However, upholding the decision, Dr Kant told TOI, "The resident doctors stay in hostels that are around 100-200 metres from the college campus. They can easily go there and change."