Update on Bullying Cases in the Specialist Doctor Program at the Ministry of Health Hospital

The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) reported 2,920 complaints related to bullying among participants in the Specialist Doctor Education Program (PPDS) between July 20, 2023, and August 15, 2025.

"Of the total reports we received, after sorting and verification, 733 reports fall into the bullying category," said Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin at a national seminar on Bullying Prevention, Gratuities, Corruption & Sexual Violence, in Bandung on Friday (August 22, 2025).

Specifically, these bullying cases occurred in Kemenkes hospitals or government hospitals (433 cases), medical faculties (FK) at universities (184 cases), other hospitals (82 cases), and 34 cases were unidentified.

Bullying cases in Kemenkes hospitals occurred across 24 study programs (prodi). Internal medicine had the highest number of cases with 86, followed by surgery with 55 cases and obstetrics and gynecology (obgyn) with 29 cases.

The following is a list of specialist study programs in Kemenkes hospitals with the highest number of bullying cases between July 20, 2023, and August 15, 2025:

1. Internal Medicine: 86 cases

2. Surgery: 55 cases

3. Obstetrics and Gynecology (Obgyn): 29 cases

4. Anesthesiology: 28 cases

5. Pediatrics: 25 cases

6. Neurosurgery: 21 cases

7. Orthopedics: 19 cases

8. Ophthalmology: 17 cases

9. Plastic Surgery: 16 cases

10. Neurology: 15 cases

11. Urology: 13 cases

12. Dermatology and Venereology: 11 cases

13. Clinical Pathology: 8 cases

14. Cardiology: 8 cases

15. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: 8 cases

16. Radiology: 5 cases

17. Otorhinolaryngology (ENT): 4 cases

18. Oral Surgery: 3 cases

19. Pediatric Surgery: 3 cases

20. Pulmonology: 2 cases

21. Clinical Nutrition: 1 case

22. Occupational Medicine: 1 case

23. Forensic Medicine: 1 case

24. Radiation Oncology: 1 case

25. Unknown: 53 cases.

"In aggregate, these are the study programs with the highest number of bullying complaints out of the 733 confirmed bullying cases across all hospitals," said Budi.

According to their type, the majority (340 cases) of bullying in Kemenkes hospitals was non-physical and non-verbal. This includes financing outside educational needs, excessive on-call duties, assignments for the personal benefit of consultants/seniors, and being ostracized or ignored.

Next, there were 186 cases of verbal bullying, 43 cases of physical bullying, and 3 cases of cyberbullying.

Of all bullying cases in Kemenkes hospitals, only 29% or 124 cases have been resolved, and 98 perpetrators have been found guilty.

“This firm action demonstrates our commitment to creating a healthy and violence-free learning environment,” said Budi.