The Medical Council of Thailand (MCT) on Sunday mourned the death of a newly graduated doctor on Saturday following a road accident in Kanchanaburi.
Yanisa Suebchiang, 24, also known as Dr Mean, sustained fatal injuries in a collision involving three other cars at Mo Ta Khieo intersection in tambon Som Det Charoen of Nong Prue district -- a known accident-prone section.
The collision happened about 4pm on Friday while the doctor was on her way to visit two rural hospitals about 100 kilometres away from Phaholpolpayuhasena Hospital, the state-run hospital at where she had worked for only 23 days after graduating from Mahidol University.
While the cause of the crash is being investigated, some believe Dr Yanisa was too exhausted to drive after working multiple shifts in a row or she wasn't familiar with the route, or both.
Dr Ittaporn Kanacharoen, secretary-general of the MCT, offered condolences to the family of Dr Yanisa, saying an important member of the country's medical workforce had been lost.
He had learnt that many road accidents had occurred at the same junction and called for local transport officials to prevent any recurrence of this tragedy.
"Be warned, all doctors. Please don't force yourself to drive if you feel too tired after working a long shift. If you really need to travel on your own, catch some sleep first. It's never worth risking your life driving while tired after work," he said.
On June 8, Dr Ittaporn said the MCT had decided to set up two sub-committees to try to alleviate the problem of many fresh graduates quitting due the "insane" working hours demanded at state-run hospitals.
Despite guidance given by the MCT that each doctor should not work more than 40 hours a week, in reality many doctors are working at hospitals which are understaffed and put in much longer hours, he said.
