Assistants are not cheap labor.

The news of the death of a number of medical students has once again highlighted the need to review medical education programs. The general medical education course in the country is seven years after the completion of the high school course, after which the graduates must spend several years in specialized training. This long period of training is accompanied by heavy obligations of service after graduation. This long time and the anxiety of finding a suitable job and starting a family will put extra pressure on students. In many countries, training is legal in terms of working hours so that assistants are not abused as cheap labor. In many European countries, for example, medical assistants should not work more than 40 hours a week. In the United States, due to the death of an 18-year-old in 1995 due to a medical malpractice and insufficient supervision, New York State decided that assistants should not work more than 80 hours a week. Finally, in 2003, a law came into force in all teaching hospitals, so that: 1- Assistants should not work more than 80 hours per week 2- On-call time of each assistant should not exceed 24 hours 3- Assistants should work one day a week Be exempt from work.

Hospitals that do not follow these rules will face fines and even the risk of closure. Studies have shown that the enactment of such laws not only does not harm the quality of education of students and assistants, but also increases their quality of life. In our country, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, as the custodian of general and specialized medical education in the country, should use such global experiences so that students and assistants during the necessary training as the workforce of the future medical community, adequate monitoring of their performance. To be applied and to avoid heavy and exhausting work that will lead to physical and mental erosion. In addition, it is necessary to review post-graduate commitments, which will sometimes make life difficult for doctors. Some of these commitments are sometimes several times longer. It seems that the inability to plan for the future will lead to despair and even doctors’ unwillingness to study in the fields required by society. It is necessary for the medical community, especially the Organization of the Medical System and scientific associations, to provide the necessary advice to the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education. It is hoped that these measures will lead to maintaining the health and quality of education of the next generation of the medical community so that in the future our community will not face problems in training physicians and skilled labor. Our dear country, Iran, has a brilliant history in the field of medical knowledge and education, and we hope that by using past experiences and modern science, we will continue to shine in the world and witness the emergence of Poursina and Zakaria Razi in the new generation. long live Iran.

Dr. Reza Saidi Firoozabadi – Transplant surgeon