AIIMS doctors to learn taekwondo for protection from assaults

Resident doctors of AIIMS will undergo training in taekwondo so that they can defend themselves if attacked on duty.(File Photo) 

With a spurt in cases of violence against medicos, the resident doctors of AIIMS will undergo training in taekwondo, a form of martial art, so that they can defend themselves if attacked on duty. Around 1,500 resident doctors, in batches of 100, will be trained at the Gymkhana Club between 7 and 8 pm everyday for six months from May 15.

There have been a number of attacks on doctors in the emergency and out-patient departments by the relatives of patients. The Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of AIIMS had requested the hospital administration to organise self-defence classes following which the decision was taken, AIIMS RDA president Vijay Gurjar said.

More than 3,000 resident doctors in Maharashtra had gone on strike for five days in March after more than two incidents of attacks on doctors were reported.

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The AIIMS RDA had extended support to their Maharashtra counterparts by wearing helmets at work while the resident doctors in Delhi government hospitals had observed one day mass casual leave. “There have been several instances in the past when the the attendants of patients attacked doctors and hospital staff.

“We understand their pain in that moment of crisis when their loved ones are suffering. But they cannot take law in their hands as we also try our level best to treat them,” Gurjar said.