MGM Medical College Head- Ophthalmology removed for allegedly slapping resident doctor

Indore: The Head, Ophthalmology, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College,(MGMMC), Dr Agarwal was removed from his position on Saturday and Professor Dr Vijay Bhaisare, made the Head of the department. Dr. Agarwal was removed for having allegedly slapped a resident doctor, twice in front of patients, doctors and nursing staff, on Friday morning.

As per recent media reports College Dean, Dr Sharad Thora took the step after a complaint was lodged by junior doctors against Dr Agarwal. Additional Chief Secretary (medical education), Commissioner, Medical Education and Director, Medical Education was informed about his replacement order.

The strike protest by Junior doctors of Ophthalmology got tremendous support from junior doctors of other departments, who joined the strike on Saturday. All the junior doctors of MY Hospital stopped work in the hospital to protest against the insulting behavior of Dr Agarwal.

"We had struck work on Saturday morning in support of resident doctors of ophthalmology department for two hours. However, we worked in emergency unit," Dr Avinash Patwari, Secretary, Junior Doctors' Association told Free Press Journal.

The strike was called off after the removal of Dr Agarwal from the post, he added.

"We are protesting against the removal of Dr Agarwal who was removed from his post on Saturday. We respect the faculty members and teachers and can take their slap as a blessing for us but for the right reason. Dr Agarwal had been torturing resident doctors and was harassing them without any reason. He had slapped a junior doctor in front of patients and nursing staff for not replying to a question, which did not concern the junior doctor," stated Patwari.

Dr Agarwal's, on the other hand, denied the allegation saying that he had only scolded the junior doctor for not keeping a track of the treatment being given to the patient and for not knowing the function of the basic equipment.

Dr Agarwal also alleged that students of the department lacked the requisite knowledge for treating patients, reported FPJ.

This is the second such incident being reported in a week. In an earlier incident reported by the Medical Dialogues team, it was stated that around 1500 resident doctors associated with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi had declared an indefinite strike after one of their colleagues was allegedly assaulted by a senior doctor.

Read more at Medical Dialogues: 1500 AIIMS resident doctors on strike after colleague slapped by senior Professor

The AIIMS strike was also called off after the department head with replaced with another for the duration of the inquiry