ISLAMABAD: Sadaf Bokhari, a young doctor from Lahore, has lost her job for skipping duty and reaching the federal capital to help the participants of the PAT sit-in over three weeks ago.

The 24-year-old resident of Johar Town was doing house job at the Mayo Hospital in Lahore after completing her MBBS from the King Edward Medical College.

“I had completed six months of my house job but due to my absence from work the management of the hospital cancelled my appointment,” Sadaf told Dawn.

“The hospital administration called me and said it would be difficult for them to continue my services due to my prolonged absence,” she added.

Dr Sadaf claimed that she was not the supporter of PAT but had come to Islamabad to help the participants of the sit-in who were contracting different diseases.

“I needed to continue the house job for another 10 months to become a medical officer. But now it will be difficult for me to restart my house job in another hospital.” She said she was getting Rs18,000 during her house job.

“Do you think it will be easy for me to search and start a house job again? It is very important for me to continue my job to earn livelihood for my family because I am the elder one among my siblings,” she added.

Dr Uzma Nawaz Gondal, a resident of Mandi Bahauddin, was living in a private hostel in Lahore to complete her house job after obtaining a medical degree from Russia.

“I have completed 14 months of my house job at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and after two months I would be able to work as a medical officer.”

She said the management of the hospital issued her a termination letter due to the month-long absence from work during which he has been treating sick participants of the sit-in in the federal capital.

A resident of Rawalpindi, Dr Amna was working in a private hospital in Islamabad. The administration of the hospital refused to continue her services due to her absence.

“I am not a supporter of PAT and the PTI but after the clashes between the police and the protesters on August 30, as a doctor it was difficult for me to sit at home.”

She believed that it was the responsibility of a doctor to provide treatment to the patients without any discrimination, adding she was spending maximum time at the sit-in to treat the participants suffering from different diseases.

Another doctor, Kalsoom Tufail, said she was working as a clinical psychologist at the Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH), Lahore.

“After completing my MBBS from the Fatima Jinnah Medical College Lahore, I am doing specialisation from the same college and also have a contractual job at PIMH.”

“The management of the PIMH told me on the phone that it was not possible for them to allow me a month-long leave. They told me not to come back to the hospital,” she added.

When contacted, Dr Ismail Janjua, the supervisor of Sadaf Bokhari at the Mayo Hospital, told Dawn that it was difficult for the administration of the hospital to allow house officers to remain absent from their duty for more than three days.

“Though it is not easy for anyone to survive without a job during the current circumstances, it was the only option for the administration to terminate the services of such doctors who remained absent from their duties,” he added.

Published in Dawn, September 20th , 2014