Please Note: This article is intended only for Doctors and medical undergraduate and post-graduate students. Non-Medicos please do not read this article.
I may not agree with your views, but yet I will defend your right to say it — Voltaire
To write what is worth publishing, to find honest people to publish it, and get sensible people to read it, are the three great difficulties in being an author. — Charles Caleb Colton
Introduction
Repeated assaults on the doctor’s body or reputation have become so common, that they have stopped eliciting any emotion or action from the doctor community; what to say of others. There is a children story, The Emperor’s New Cloth. Two crooks told the emperor they would make for him ‘heavenly clothes’. But the catch? Only those persons with pure thoughts will be able to see or feel them. So the emperor pranced around in his underwear and everyone admired his ‘heavenly clothes’. Everyone thought if I say I cannot see any clothes others will think I have an impure heart. A small child, who was not afraid of what people think about him finally blurted out the truth, the emperor is not wearing any clothes. It is high time someone plays that child. After all,
‘Lying makes a problem part of the future; truth makes a problem part of the past’ — Rick Pitino.
Remember, One can wake a person who is sleeping, but it is impossible to wake a person who is only acting that he is asleep — Mahabharat
Let’s examine a few of our shortcoming and their probable solutions. After reading this article, there may be even an uproar against me but
Bitter disease demands bitter medicine.
The deteriorating condition demands immediate action. So please, these thoughts are not meant to criticize any individual, as I am also part of it.
As John C. Maxwell has said, "A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them."
Inertia
Paralysis by analysis is what we (Indians) suffer from. We are not action-oriented people — M. S. Swaminathan, agricultural scientist.
Assault happens then what? Newspaper headline for one or two days. If it is in Government hospital then photos of assaulted doctors, police, members of hospital administration and few alleged public leaders discussing the matter, additional police force deployed are published. Makeshift arrangements are made. The news coverage dwindles in size day by day and everything is back to the old routine in 2- 3 days.
Compare this with other similar incidents: A shopkeeper was assaulted. Next day the newspaper was filled with statements of various trade organizations condemning the incident, the market was closed (strike) and the pressure was put on police and city administration by collective protest march by various traders group. On assault of a municipal councilor (Paarshad) all other councilor came together regardless of party to protest strongly.
A very stark contrast was seen in one of the previous incidences of assault on doctors in MBS hospital. A group of resident doctors was assaulted and next day their hostel was attacked, their cars and furniture were broken, their women and child-folk were terrorized and the only group that came in their support belatedly was of Medical college teachers association, that too in a very half-hearted manner. The result – much ado about nothing.
In contrast, a news reporter’s camera was ‘damaged’ and he was allegedly manhandled while covering the resident doctor’s protest. Within minutes, executive members of various newspaper and press organization collected at MBS Hospital and issued a strong condemnation of the reporter’s ‘manhandling’. Political leaders went out of the way to support the reporters and within hours the reporter received assurance of replacement of the camera from the Government's Press and Information department. What about the broken cars and furniture of the doctors?
The reason for the different treatment must be clear to you, i.e. immediate collective action by all press organizations.
In contrast, there is no strong action by doctors collectively to give a clear message to the administration, politicians, and public.
No battle is sorely lost than the one not fought — Spanish proverb.
Doctors who come rushing to the hospital at 2.00 AM in the night for an unknown patient do not rush to their colleague’s aid in the daytime. It forces sometimes to ask is it humanitarian instinct or the Rs 500/- consultation fees (in private setup) from the patient that is the reason for this difference in behavior.
We have no choice but to take some action to change the present scenario. After all,
You must either conquer and rule or serve and lose, suffer or triumph, be the anvil or the hammer. — Goethe.
Remember Swami Vivekanand’s words:
Raise, struggle and rest not till success is achieved.
As doctors provide essential services we cannot go on strike at will, but there are many other ways of showing our protest. We can wear black batches or arm-bands, fly black flags from our hospital and residences, have a protest march, go on 24 hours rotating hunger strike and so on.
Insipid Leadership
Nero played the harp while Rome burned. The reputation of doctors is being razed every day and Medical fraternity leaders and members are busy organizing games, singing bhajans, celebrating Holi, Diwali or Doctors Day, studying in CMEs and having cocktails and dinner.
If a doctor wants to play games he can join a sports club, he can go to the temple to sing and listen to bhajans, celebrate festivals in the colony, go to conferences to study and have cocktails and dinner in bars & restaurants.
But who but doctor’s organizations such as IMA, ASI, API, IAP, FOGI, etc, can safeguard doctor’s honor and dignity. Lack of vision and deciding correct priorities by doctor’s organization executive members is also a great factor.
If the trumpet giveth an uncertain sound, who shall grid himself for battle? —The Bible.
Today the criteria for selection to the executive in various Doctors organizations are either senior age, roaring practice, ability to get funds for CMEs, IMA building, celebrations, having a good network of friends to garner vote, etc, than a commitment and ability to fight tooth and nail for doctors. (Democracy; which means despair of finding any heroes to govern you — Thomas Carlyle).
We need leaders having vision and mass appeal of Mahatma Gandhi, the management skills of Bill Gates, the strong will of Hitler and cleverness of Chanakya, at all level of IMA and doctor community.
All great revolutions and victories have been won under the guidance of able leaders as
An army of sheeps led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep — Italian proverb.
Our leaders should remember that
Leadership is action, not position — Donald H McGannon.
That is, a true leader is not who simply holds a top executive post but is one who acts to protect his subject from danger. Since ‘every country gets the government it deserves’ unless we start electing our executives by the prime criteria of defending doctor’s honor, things are not going to improve.
Our great leaders should spear-head our fight for dignity and survival. They should be first to arrive at the scene, issue strongly worded condemnation of such incidences and swiftly and strongly demonstrate against the miscreants. Telephone numbers of office bearers of various doctor’s organization should be displayed in all hospitals so that they can be immediately contacted in an emergency.
(To Be Continued in 2nd Part: https://agnipathdoctors.blogspot.com/2019/07/what-is-medical-hakikat-part-2.html)
(Based on allegedly true incidents)
— ND© Author. All rights reserved.
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DISCLAIMER: This article is intended only for fun purpose. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful. Use of the information herein is at you one's own risk. Before trying to emulate or follow anything the reader is well advised to take into account ethical, moral, legal and other considerations. The author recommends that Medical Practice should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost.
DISCLAIMER: This article is intended only for fun purpose. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful. Use of the information herein is at you one's own risk. Before trying to emulate or follow anything the reader is well advised to take into account ethical, moral, legal and other considerations. The author recommends that Medical Education should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost and according to MCI and other Board’s norm.
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