With the world going digital and the growing impact of social media, everyone wishes to put their life out there. Ever since Instagram introduced “Reels“, the platform has been flooded with users posting about their daily life on it and creating content out of it. However, sometimes things end up going out of hand.

The medical students from Gadag Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Karnataka took Instagram’s tagline “Reel it, feel it” a bit too seriously. A group of 38 medical students from the college have been slapped with stringent action for shooting Instagram reels on the hospital premises. the hospital management extended their housemanship i.e. the practical training period by 10 days for violating hospital rules.

Gadag Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) Karnataka action against medical college students viral Instagram reels

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What Transpired

It was the last few days of their internship in the college in which they had studied for five years. The students of GIMS decided to make it memorable by dancing for Instagram reels. The students picked the hospital premises where they work daily to shoot the videos.

One of the reels showed the students dancing in their scrubs in the hospital corridors. Another showed them looking at reports and holding saline bottles as a bed was wheeled across. They shared them on social media with the caption ‘Reel it, feel it’.

The incident came to light when videos of medical students dancing to Hindi and Kannada songs in the district hospital corridor went viral on social media. Upon viewing the reels, the netizens criticised the students for their perceived lack of commitment to their duties.

The Repercussions

The management immediately acted against the students who were part of performing and recording the videos in the hospital premises. Calling this a grave mistake, Dr. Basavaraj Bommanhalli, Director of Gadag Institute of Medical Sciences stated, “Students said that as it is the last phase of college life, they did these videos. However, making such videos on the premises of the hospital might cause inconvenience to patients. We initiated an action against these students.”

“There are 38 of them who did this within the premises and violated the rules. Whatever they wanted to do, they should have done it outside the hospital premises, avoiding inconvenience to the patients” he added. The students reportedly submitted an apology and claimed that it was a part of their pre-graduation ceremony.

The Director clarified that they hadn’t granted any permission to the students for such activities. “We have taken cognisance of this. Their housemanship was supposed to end in the next 10–20 days, and we have extended that for another 10 days” stated Dr. Basavaraj.

This came a day after Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundurao dismissed a doctor for conducting a pre-wedding photoshoot in the operation theatre of a government hospital in Chitradurga district.

Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundurao action against medical college students viral Instagram reels

Talking about this particular incident, the Minister said, “All contract employees, including doctors and staff performing duties in the health department, should perform their duties as per the government service rules. I have already instructed the concerned doctors and all the staff to be careful so that such abuses do not happen in government hospitals.”

Netizens Are Divided

Reels shot by doctors have gone viral on several occasions in the recent past, especially in the post-Covid era. These reels have sharply divided public opinion. While many have praised doctors for their moves and seen the reels as a way to counter work stress, others have questioned if such conduct reflects negligence towards their work and inconvenienced patients.

The comments section of a tweet showcasing the reels made by the GIMS students depicts this divide. One X user commented “What’s wrong in it ? Are they doing while being on duty? If answer is no, then what’s the problem . Let them enjoy . Medical course is tiring. Nothing wrong with a little break.” Another said, “This was on disciplinary grounds which medical commitee has taken this decision .“

A third wrote, “Our future doctors deserve that fun.” “Is that a hospital or something else? Good decision” said another. Some netizens are lauding the decision taken by the college management and the Karnataka Government while some are defending the students saying they are allowed to have fun and should not be suspended for this.

What’s your take on this incident? Let us know in the comments below.