AIIMS Delhi, JIPMER, others: 1 in 7 resident doctors at top medical colleges quit midway; UDF urges probe

Almost one out of every seven doctors admitted to post-graduation (PG) positions at 10 of the country’s most prestigious medical schools in the last three years have quit midway through their programme, reveals replies to multiple Right to Information (RTI) queries.

The data obtained by the United Doctors Front (UDF), an advocacy group for resident doctors, from nine out of 20 functional All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, including AIIMS Delhi, and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) Puducherry, shows a steady dropout of resident doctors across medical departments in the last few years. 

The doctors have blamed long working hours, ‘toxic’ workplace culture, mental harassment and inadequate institutional support for the worrying trend.

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Resident doctors at AIIMS Delhi, Gorakhpur, and more 

At AIIMS Delhi, of 591 junior resident doctors who joined in the years 2024 and 2025, 93 left the institute before completing their programme. The institute’s ophthalmology department, which admitted the most candidates – 51 in 2024, 38 in 2025 – also recorded the highest number of quitters – 14 and 6, respectively. 

Junior residents include MD, MS and MDS students as well as MBBS graduates providing clinical services without undergoing PG training. AIIMS Delhi has 1,213 spots for the former programmes, and 241 for the latter. It’s not clear to which of the two categories the RTI data refers.

JIPMER Puducherry, another top institute, witnessed one of the highest rate of dropouts, as many as 104 out of 387 aspirants – the institute also didn’t specify the category of seats – enrolled in the same duration leaving their programme. Anaesthesiology, emergency medicine and ophthalmology are among the branches with the largest share of resignations.

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However, it’s AIIMS Gorakhpur, established in 2019, that saw the highest proportion of dropouts, with nearly one out of three 2025 and 2026 batch PG students failing to finish their course. The institute’s January 2026 batch has the worst record, as 11 out of 21 doctors quit the same year.

* 2025 and 2026 data; ** 2024 and 2025 data; *** 2025 data

Calling it a “deeply concerning challenge”, UDF’s Lakshya Mittal said that they have been receiving complaints of excessive workload from resident doctors, who are forced to quit despite securing admission to some of the best medical education institutes in the country.

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“Resident doctors are the backbone of every hospital. They shoulder enormous clinical responsibilities, ensure round-the-clock patient care and keep our healthcare institutions functioning. Yet, their own physical and mental well-being is frequently neglected,” he said.

Resident Doctors Quitting: UDF urges probe

While UDF had also sought information about the resident doctors who had to undergo psychiatric counselling for their mental health issues, all but two institutes refused to divulge the details or reported nil. In AIIMS Patna, as many as 15 out 129 students in 2025 batch were provided counselling. At AIIMS Rishikesh, six resident doctors received psychiatric help this year.

UDF has demanded an urgent investigation into the reasons behind resident doctor resignations, effective implementation of residency working-hour regulations and establishing an independent grievance-redressal mechanism.

“This culture of normalising suffering, humiliation and exploitation in the name of training must end. What previous generations may have endured cannot become a justification for subjecting future doctors to the same conditions,” adds Mittal.