Trainee doctor reveals that he fell to his death after being subjected to verbal bullying for a long time
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Penang Central Hospital has been plagued by reports of interns committing suicide due to stress. As a result, some journalists went to interview doctors who had previously practiced at the hospital. It is reported that interns not only worked overtime during their internships, but were bullied by nurses and even suffered verbal abuse from supervisors.
Verbal bullying by superiors
The interns said Penang Central Hospital was known for bullying and feared by residents, stressing that Medical officers (MO) at the hospital would mercilessly use verbal abuse against residents.
“An official doctor once told me I was hopeless and told me to jump from the highest building. However, when I said that my life was more precious and I would not end it easily, I was forced to extend my internship for two months in relevant departments.”
Interns must spend at least two years as interns in different departments for four months before becoming regular doctors. Regular doctors, usually also supervisors of residents.
So interns sometimes have to suffer racial slurs from other regular doctors.
“I was told to go back to cutting rubber and the Malays were told to go back to ploughing the fields. I was frustrated that we were forced to work 18 hours straight.”
“When people who are severely affected seek psychiatric help, they are made fun of and labelled as' crazy ‘,” he claimed.
Be the whipping boy
Another intern, J, said his superiors blamed him for the death of a patient.
“The regular doctor was out of the hospital for three weeks after the master's program started, and I had 20 patients to care for, and then I was called a murderer for something I didn't do.”
“These were my darkest days, in the hospital, when bullies' hunted ‘the weak.”
Most respondents called it a “baptism of fire” and described Penang Central Hospital as the “worst hospital” for interns in the country. Almost all respondents reported being overworked, abused and bullied, even by nurses.
