Without justification, Pemex dismisses 34 resident doctors

Jared Laurels

Newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday March 1, 2023, p. 18

Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) authorities denied 34 resident doctors, graduates of UNAM and IPN, the possibility of continuing their training as specialists. They were fired without legal justification, but they have in common having participated in the mobilizations last December, in protest for the incomplete payment of their Christmas bonus.

The new school cycle begins this Wednesday, said those affected, who obtained a place in hospitals because they passed the national exam for medical residences.

Resident doctors indicated, separately, that they were summoned last Monday at the Pemex North and South central hospitals, at different times and according to the specialties they are studying.

Some, they commented, were endorsed to continue with their medical residence in the hospitals of the state company, but to the most active in the movement the authorities responsible for their recruitment told them that our contracts were not there and they would no longer be renewed.

Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, a resident of medical emergencies, pointed out that the institution did not give them any official discharge document, it only gave them a letter of no inconvenience -signed by the heads of education of each unit- in which the state company says not to oppose for young people to continue their medical specialty in another health institution.

For this reason, the monthly scholarship they received it remains tied to Pemex, the budget stays and does not release itTherefore, if they continue their residence in another hospital, they would do so, but without financial support, on which most of them depend to get around their transfers, food and in some cases accommodation, commented those affected.

Pemex is denying my right to education and violating my rights, said Elizabeth Palacios, a doctor who was also denied to renew her contract. She highlighted that among those affected there are people who had been in the specialty for one to three years and now remain adrift.

Like her, other doctors in training denounced that, until yesterday, the authorities had not delivered their official documents, such as a birth certificate, professional license and study certificate. They recognized that it is difficult to seek a stay in another institution, since It’s a long process.