It is no secret that most of the young children in the country dream of becoming doctors. It is one of the professions which is highly regarded. And it is considered a huge achievement when students qualify to study medicine.

The problem is that we may be producing a huge number of brilliant doctors but not many have jobs waiting for them when they finish their long and tiring courses

A recent example of this was, a doctor committing suicide in Lahore. Dr Shoaib took his life by ingesting poisonous pills.

The reason described for his suicide is the lack of work available for him

This is often the case in Pakistan where one might be able to garner a lot of respect and titles like “Doctor Sahab”, but that does not ensure a steady income, enough to run a house.

As soon as the news was posted on social media, people couldn’t help but share their opinions

While some were pointing out how taking your own life is forbidden in Islam, many were also very understanding of what could have led to the situation

People also understood the plight of med students due to a lack of jobs available for MBBS students

This death of a qualified doctor highlights one of the most serious problems that this society faces

These graduates fight for jobs at government hospitals and settle for a very basic income, which is not even enough to make their own ends meet. An average doctor at all government hospitals works for two shifts of almost 32 hours during the week. This in comparison to other countries is a really long time to go without sleep. The average shift in Britain is 12 hours long. This is one of the reasons why 15000 doctors leave the country every year. They not only put in so much effort but get nothing in return here. The Young Doctors Association (YDA), which is heavily criticized for holding protests and not attending to their patients; if one listens to them, the story is a very different one.

They demand more resources, more equipments, more beds, more staff, more doctors and a good amount to make their ends meet. No one should be expected to work in such conditions after having dedicated their lives to the profession.

Cover image via: disruptedphysician.com