"As medical specialist students also offer services, they supposedly have their rights to incentive," Khumaidi remarked during an online media briefing session on health screening for medical specialist students hosted in Jakarta, Friday.
Citing Article 31 of the 2013 Medical Studies Law, he elaborated that the students have their rights to protection, incentives, as well as time to rest. He deemed other factors, such as mental health, as being equally important as the education itself in ensuring that the learning process goes accordingly.
Khumaidi drew attention to a research in 2015 that showed a 30-percent prevalence of depression in medical students globally.
He believes that the incentive is important, as some of the students already shoulder the responsibilities of their families. Hence, the association called for financial support in order to ease the mental burden.
"Should this one (issue) be resolved, it will truly support the effort to address the rate of depression," he emphasized.
Moreover, Khumaidi also called for the need to create regulation on work time for medical personnel in order to ensure the students' mental health, as it is also an important factor that plays into the safety of their patients.
"We have the (need) for work time (regulation) since no such regulation for medical personnel regarding this matter had yet been put in place. This is relevant to the issue of burnouts, depression (among students)," he pointed out.
He also deemed it vital for the Health Ministry to create regulation, such as on early detection and prevention, that will address the matter.
Khumaidi noted that his administration supported the initiative to form a mental health task force in educational institutions, like the ones carried out by University of Indonesia and Gadjah Mada University.
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Reporter: Mecca Yumna Ning Prisie
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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