Wednesday, August 25, 2010
RK Narayanan
The Writerly Life is amazing non fiction. every page is loaded with information yet delivered with simplicity. It is inspired reading that stirs the soul.
Dear Doctor,
A couple of weeks ago doctors day was celebrated and I am sure that many people wished you and thanked you for what you have done for them. I too thought of the doctors that have touched my life in different ways. As I was doing this in my mind, I thought of my various encounters with doctors who had forgotten their purpose in life. I was in a group and the discussion turned towards the many difficulties that we face doctors and the arrogance some of the doctors display.
I was sad but also angered and thought that I will let you know. As I had mentioned earlier there good doctors who care about the patients and are aware of the situation around them, however I am addressing this letter to doctors who care more about money, pride, their ego and their contribution to the society. Some of you –those who even care enough to go beyond this may feel that this is injustice, but believe me it is not about all of you but about those who act differently when they become doctors.
When I go to a hospital I am intimidated by the way I am treated, in more than one ways the doctor is God and we are mere mortals. From having to leave our slippers outside or the doctor not talking to us it is terrible. I once went to a doctor and asked him why my mom’s leg was swollen, he looked straight into my eye and said, just go and do the test I ask you to (Doppler test) after that when I went with the result and asked him again, he said – just want I thought – take her to the vascular surgeon immediately, hse should not even walk, the situation is serious. By the way, I am no ignorant uneducated person, I have a PhD and can understand English. I was so disturbed with what he said that I could ask him no more questions and had to take my mother and rush to the doctor, what would the doctor have lost if he spent just some time to explain to me what he suspected?
During a medical camp, one of the doctors called the organizers and said that food should be bought from a particular hotel, not the ones near the village. Of course we would not give bad food for anyone, but what is it with the doctors wanting to be treated like they jumped out of heaven, yeah I may sound like a doctor hater, yes I am one, it is just about the attitude and let me emphasize, not all are like that but most are.
Have you heard about doctors that wont touch you, nor will listen to you, they will ask you one question and then just write down a prescription even as you speak, I wonder where they learn this? Does the medical school ever have a class of ethics and social behaviour? One of my friends was very upset when the doctor told him that the boils in her body were just fat (cholesterol accumulation). The fact of the matter it that it is true but the way it was said. What I hate about doctors is that they don’t want to listen to us, either they tell us what we should not do, never explaining why we should not do it. They don’t listen to what we have to say, of course how will, they have millions of patients to see, time is money. Have you ever thought about the amount of money that is charged for a surgery, for a consultation? And do you ever wonder why house surgeon made such a hue and cry about having to go to the village for a year of internship? What doctors forget is that they study with such subsidized fee with our tax money, they feel they can’t do much with it and so want to specialize. Actually they feel that they can make more money when they specialize, this leaves less doctors to treat basic aliments which are more than advance illnesses.
There are very few doctors in the PHC’s or the government hospitals because everyone wants to go out for private practice. Some doctors do private practice before they go to a government hospital and go back to private practice after the government working hours. There are hardly any specialist in government hospitals since they are all practicing in private hospitals for a fat salary.
I could go on about the doctors, but I think I am already frustrated, so let me stop here and let things be. Dear Doctor, I feel bad for telling you things, but it is more to help you come out of this rut, this will save you and help save us too.
With concern,
I was sad but also angered and thought that I will let you know. As I had mentioned earlier there good doctors who care about the patients and are aware of the situation around them, however I am addressing this letter to doctors who care more about money, pride, their ego and their contribution to the society. Some of you –those who even care enough to go beyond this may feel that this is injustice, but believe me it is not about all of you but about those who act differently when they become doctors.
When I go to a hospital I am intimidated by the way I am treated, in more than one ways the doctor is God and we are mere mortals. From having to leave our slippers outside or the doctor not talking to us it is terrible. I once went to a doctor and asked him why my mom’s leg was swollen, he looked straight into my eye and said, just go and do the test I ask you to (Doppler test) after that when I went with the result and asked him again, he said – just want I thought – take her to the vascular surgeon immediately, hse should not even walk, the situation is serious. By the way, I am no ignorant uneducated person, I have a PhD and can understand English. I was so disturbed with what he said that I could ask him no more questions and had to take my mother and rush to the doctor, what would the doctor have lost if he spent just some time to explain to me what he suspected?
During a medical camp, one of the doctors called the organizers and said that food should be bought from a particular hotel, not the ones near the village. Of course we would not give bad food for anyone, but what is it with the doctors wanting to be treated like they jumped out of heaven, yeah I may sound like a doctor hater, yes I am one, it is just about the attitude and let me emphasize, not all are like that but most are.
Have you heard about doctors that wont touch you, nor will listen to you, they will ask you one question and then just write down a prescription even as you speak, I wonder where they learn this? Does the medical school ever have a class of ethics and social behaviour? One of my friends was very upset when the doctor told him that the boils in her body were just fat (cholesterol accumulation). The fact of the matter it that it is true but the way it was said. What I hate about doctors is that they don’t want to listen to us, either they tell us what we should not do, never explaining why we should not do it. They don’t listen to what we have to say, of course how will, they have millions of patients to see, time is money. Have you ever thought about the amount of money that is charged for a surgery, for a consultation? And do you ever wonder why house surgeon made such a hue and cry about having to go to the village for a year of internship? What doctors forget is that they study with such subsidized fee with our tax money, they feel they can’t do much with it and so want to specialize. Actually they feel that they can make more money when they specialize, this leaves less doctors to treat basic aliments which are more than advance illnesses.
There are very few doctors in the PHC’s or the government hospitals because everyone wants to go out for private practice. Some doctors do private practice before they go to a government hospital and go back to private practice after the government working hours. There are hardly any specialist in government hospitals since they are all practicing in private hospitals for a fat salary.
I could go on about the doctors, but I think I am already frustrated, so let me stop here and let things be. Dear Doctor, I feel bad for telling you things, but it is more to help you come out of this rut, this will save you and help save us too.
With concern,
Rain, rain
It has been raining for the last few days, the optimist in me is loving it and the pessimist is wondering what the months too be will be like
A painting to share
Life is all about sharing, whether it is our joy, our sorrow, our food, our selves or even our resources. I once had to speak to a group of seven year olds about the disparity if resources in the world. There were 40 children and so I divided them into two groups, one of thirty and the other of ten. I had taken a cake with me to explain this concept. I cut the cake into four pieces and gave three to the group of ten children and one to the group of thirty. Even before I could turn, one child from the group of ten gave one piece to the group of thirty children. Then another brought one more. I was taken aback and stood still. The second child could have done it to just copy the first one or there could be other explanations for it. But I could no longer explain disparity of resources in the world to them. How could I tell a group of 7 year olds that this is not what the grownups do? How could I tell those little children who so spontaneously shared that some grown ups don’t like to share? The world has enough resources for all the people to live happily if only we shared. The international students in EMU are part of this sharing, sharing knowledge, resources and culture. This is an opportunity to share with the underprivileged. I often ask myself why are we not able to do research and publish papers like the westerners. Truly I tell you, we are busy making ends meet, saving our lives from war, protecting our children from danger and trying to keep away malaria and tuberculosis that we hardly have time for intellectual pursuits. Although studying abroad is not the solution, it is an opportunity. Cross cultural education is a beginning; we are the cultural ambassadors of peace. We want to make people aware of the realities of our side of the world. If we leave this place with even one person understanding the problem we face back home, we have played our parts well. Life is a painting and everyone is called to paint. What we paint becomes the final picture, some of us paint joy, hope, some hatred and fear, some love and some even war. I wish that each of us is conscious of what we paint and make this painting a beautiful one for all to share.
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