Jakarta, IO – The Health Ministry (Kemenkes) in its investigation found hundreds of cases of alleged bullying in the Specialist Doctor Education Program (PPDS) at several medical faculties in Indonesia.
Health vice-minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono said Kemenkes has received around 1,000 reports but after they were verified, only around 30 percent were deemed credible. “There came down to about 300 cases,” said Dante, as per CNN Indonesia, Wed (4/9).
Dante said the cases will be further investigated to get to the bottom of the problem. He said bullying practices in the world of medical education must be stopped.
The issue came to the surface after the death of a trainee doctor at Diponegoro University’s Medical Faculty, Aulia Risma Lestari, who committed suicide allegedly because she was bullied by her seniors.
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Kemenkes revealed after an investigation that she was forced to rack up between Rp20 million and Rp40 million per month for her seniors.
Central Java police spokesperson Artanto said his department has received the results of the internal investigation by Kemenkes and will follow up on the case. Kemenkes hopes firm law enforcement action can create a deterrent effect to prevent similar occurrence in the future. (un)