On doctors and patients

Having studied in a government medical college we had to compete for everything . Thanks to the liberal infrastructure spent on healthcare by the government it was difficult to get access to the full teaching facilities . And dealing with the public in many aspects during the course got an idea of soceitys expectations of a doctor as well as what it was ready to give to the professionals . I did a reasonable good job in academics . But in final year surgery posting ,when the opportunity was there to put the gloves and do PR or per rectal examination i decided it just was not worth it .I mean the PR part .

Dont get me wrong ... I was as excited scientifically as well as patient carewise to read an ECG and arrive at a diagnosis and without an iota of disgust was ready to put my gloved finger into some strangers anal passage . But outside the college , i could sense the strong sense of hypocrisy surrounding the profession . They wanted the doctor to do everything for them but when it came to respect it was a conditional respect . A job which to this day i feel is the most noble (including nurses and paramedics , then comes teachers ) was considered inferior to other jobs which were cleaner , quick money earning one and even 9-5 . That was the time when the tech majors had come to india and had started giving fabulous salaries even for freshers so comparison and ridicule was even greater

I was never bullied by my seniors in college except for the friendly introductions but outside the hospital any social gathering people had to tell only the negatives of the profession highlighted .Weekly or even daily media reports of horrible doctors their mistakes , their cruelty , their bribery etc etc were headline news . Of course it took a few years and dealing with countless patients , the people in the society , reading newspapers to get the big picture . And thats when i had my first idea about how hypocritic and thankless people can be ..

Years past .. luckily i had good visuo spatial skills (needed in radiodiagnosis my specialty ), a strong clinical base and of course technical interests (we have to learn medical physics too ) . And though even to this day i am neither disgusted nor afraid of the life giving blood or anal passage , i landed in a bloodless field of radiodiagnosis .In it even blood is black or white in colour and anal passage is shade of grey . One of the most paying specialties even after a diploma i saw the same people give tremendous respect for the money earning potential of the specialty . And for the first time i could see medicine and the interaction of doctors and patients from outside a glass screen (transparent lead glass ) .In private conversations even had to listen to patients criticising the "clinicians " . Each time i think about the surgery opd decades back and switch on again after they have finished their blame game .

I am not a cynic (i hope so ) but frankly i feel so much damage has been done by "external vested "interests . Solutions are not easy but possible to make better this scenario . Medicine is a noble profession when catering to a noble population and its a known fact that as a soceity we have regressed in mutual respect . So for such a soceity at least i prefer to scan or teach . I dont have to do PR or wake up at 2 am as a teacher or trainer earning a similar salary and getting enough respect . (same goes for radiology too in many settings ) . And i personally have the greatest respect for my clinical colleagues who do the best possible even for the most arrogant patient . But still i feel sadness for the senior doctor who goes home to give her free samples to her "rich patient" (a case of misplaced sense of duty ) in the middle of the party instead of enjoying the party as anyone else . Cant we be empathic yet in touch with our times . Shall we ?