The Ministry of Health has proposed this Monday to withdraw controversial question number 84 of the MIR 2024 exam, related to the diagnosis of a doctor who works excessive hours, considering it stigmatizing mental health and “a lack of respect” for professionals. of Primary Care.
Although no member of the Ministry intervenes in the preparation of the questionnaire, the department led by Mónica García has apologized for the aforementioned question, which it believes should be considered for challenge, as reported by Health sources.
The question that has sparked controversy is number 84 of the MIR exam, held last Saturday, which presented the case of a 50-year-old doctor who “frequently accumulates a delay of 2 hours in the consultation, creating some conflict, although it is the that he has the smallest number of patients”, and that “he starts his work day early to plan and advance his work, but he is always the last to leave”.
The doctor in question, according to the questionnaire, justifies himself by saying that he is “very perfectionist” and assures that between visits and bureaucracy, he barely has time for anything, not even “to go to the gym” or “social life.”
Applicants had to answer if this excess of perfectionism is a symptom of a personality disorder such as schizophrenia, schizoid disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Given the discomfort it has generated, and despite wanting to “respect the independence” of the Qualifying Commission, Health will send it a letter proposing its withdrawal.
The argument is that the question “can be seen as a lack of respect” in the face of an everyday situation that reflects the deficits of the health system: “the need for many professionals to extend their working hours to respond to the needs of their patients.”
Next, the thread in Health X apologizing and asking for the question to be withdrawn.
It will also allege that, in a context of special focus on actions to improve the mental health of the population and professionals, its content may be “stigmatizing.”
“People who find themselves in a situation of precariousness and work overload tend to blame themselves and express the organization’s shortcomings as their own problem; this makes it difficult to detect them and puts them at risk of not only carrying the blame for not arriving, but also also of ending up being pathologized and pointed out from the outside, adding stigma to their own suffering,” the Ministry maintains.
If the Qualification Commission accepted the proposal, the question would be replaced by another of the reserve questions contained in the questionnaire, the same sources have added.
The tests are prepared by a Committee of Experts made up of professionals with diverse backgrounds and origins in each exam category, but none from the Ministry. The committee is made up of 5 or 6 people, each of whom is supported by between 10 and 15 collaborators.
Its members, with experience in education and specialized training, collect, for more than six months, proposals from collaborators, rate their difficulty, rework them and finally select the test questions. That is, they begin working between April and May on the following year’s test.
Once they are selected and delivered, they go directly to the company that was awarded the printing, so the qualifying committee knows about the exam at the same time as the people who are taking the exam that day.
