TimesView This is not a very happy situation. It does not speak well either of our health-delivery system and the public response to it or our law-and-order system. KOLKATA: Five junior doctors and a faculty member of Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital are set to become taekwondo kukkiwon 1st dan black belt holders, the first for any government-run medical college in the country.In March 2017, NRS hospital was the first medical college in the country to introduce taekwondo training for students, interns and junior doctors as a method to manage their stress and help them in crisis situations, like when they come under attack from the public. Doctors had been under constant pressure over complaints of medical negligence from patients’ families and the junior doctors at government hospitals had frequently been at the receiving end of mob fury around that time.The six doctors — Pritam Rahman, Rituparna Mukherjee, Tausif Mirza, Kaushiki Raman, Indrayudh Bandyopadhyay and Akash Mandal — appeared for their test on the hospital premises on Monday. Taekwondo Hall of Fame recipient and international master instructor, kukkiwon grand master Pradipta Kumar Roy and master Ruma Roy Chowdhury, along with NRS hospital deputy superintendent and state nodal officer for taekwondo training Dwaipayan Biswas, himself a 2nd dan black belt taekwondo athelete, were the examiners.“It’s a dream come true. We are proud that NRS hospital has become the first government hospital in the country that can boast of such an achievement,” said Bandyopadhyay.“Not just acquiring self control, discipline and mental strength in a non-violent manner, taekwondo students can also get scholarship facilities at foreign universities and educational institutes once they become kukkiwon certified 1st dan black belt taekwondo atheletes,” said Roy.“It is a unique thing that has happened for any government medical college. Taekwondo helps build mental strength and calmness, which are essential for doctors who go through stress on a daily basis. Taekwondo helps them face any challenge with confidence in a non-violent way. Since taekwondo training has been introduced at NRS hospital, incidents of doctor-public altercations have reduced significantly,” Biswas said.

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