Since its foundation more than 75 years ago, the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) has established itself as the basis of public health in our country. While at the same time it is also the most important school where specialists are trained. Every year thousands of residents are accepted and start a new stage of learning. Getting a place is not easy because they first had to pass the National Examination for Aspiring Medical Residences (ENARM).
But although you may think that passing this exam is the most complicated test, it is not really entirely true. The really difficult thing comes once the residency begins because it begins a new lifestyle that many times is not pleasant at all.
Residents suffer from superior abuse and labor exploitation
In this vein, the unfortunate panorama faced by the training specialists of the La Raza Hospital of the IMSS has now been released. According to what was published by Millennium at least those of Neurosurgery have been the first to raise the voice of this hospital and demand a halt to the abuses they face on a daily basis.
What they mention is that they are subjected to labor exploitation by their superiors. They point out that they constantly receive unjust punishments that lead to extreme guards that endanger their own physical and mental health.
As an example, they add that it has become “normal” to have to do shifts for a full week without a break. This leads to dehydration and fainting, and when it occurs superiors blame the residents themselves for endangering patient care.
The situation is so serious that it is even indicated that one of them had to resign during her first year of residence and receive psychiatric treatment. While there are two others from the same generation who also deserted due to all the suffering they experienced.
Punishments that prevail today
For its part, through social media The situation that exists in this IMSS hospital has been made public and which is not new because it has prevailed for years. Within what he denounces is that the R1 suffer from verbal and physical aggression on the part of their higher-level superiors. As an example it is indicated that they receive shots of saline solution to the face with contaminated syringes during surgical procedures, blows to the hands with instruments during procedures, shoving and shaking. In addition there is also constant verbal abuse and public humiliation and workplace harassment.
We open #Thread with the statement issued by residents of the Neurosurgery of the Specialties Department of the CMN La Raza, in relation to the abuses experienced in the service, which have endangered their physical integrity; @zoerobledo, @Your_IMSS ,@UNAM_MX, @lopezobrador_ ,@CNDH
– ResidentsNQXLaRaza (@nqx_la) August 5, 2021
While that is not all because they also denounce that they are forced to complete marathon days of up to 72 hours per week. This implies that they must attend on weekends despite not being on guard or simply not having a minimum time to eat.
Based on all of the above, what is being sought now is to publicize its problem and for the authorities of the IMSS or the health system to do something immediately. Although something even worse is that this situation could not be exclusive to Hospital La Raza but would be repeated in more hospitals in other institutions.