20th June 2019
Musings.......
Paribaha Mukhopadhyay 24, always wanted to study medicine and serve people. Who is Paribaha? He was a bright student, a school topper who also came first in his Higher Secondary examination from Howrah district. Before his career as a doctor could take off Paribaha, a House Surgeon in Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College (NRS), Kolkata was assaulted allegedly by bystanders of a patient. He suffered depressed fracture in the right frontal region which is a bone in the skull, with contusion supposedly from a blunt object like a brick.
Though the patient is stable at present the incident caused huge uproar in West Bengal, taken up by the media and ensured mass resignations from Doctors. Doctors from all over the country including the IMA have been strongly standing by the protesting doctors from Kolkata , who are demanding proper security to doctors.
IMAs nationwide strike on the 17th of June was complete.
This is not the first incident or a one off incident of assault on doctors. What makes it more difficult is the visible public apathy and angst against the doctor community in general.
With the advent of social media and social awareness it was generally thought that public awareness would improve the condition of patients as well as public perception of Doctors. In fact what we are seeing is a general deterioration of public perception of Medical professionals. Things have taken such a bad turn that Medical Professionals are generally seen with apathy and anger.
So where lies the problem? Does the problem lie with the Medical professionals or with the general public. It is anyone’s guess that both have to take steps towards change in attitude, best practices and general consensus on Doctor- Patient relationship.
Firstly, the perception of the general public about a medical practitioner has to change. What they should understand is the amount of stress and hardships they a Medico has to go through before he completes his Medical degree. Most junior doctors are underpaid and work under deplorable conditions. The misconception that all doctors earn well and lead a very high standard of living is a myth.
In fact on the contrary for the amount of skill sets that Doctors require for becoming not a brilliant but an average Doctor is not even comparable to what skills one requires for say a civil servant or an engineer.
Gone are the days when Doctors were considered next to Gods and treated with reverence and respect that they deserve.
In fact now everyone thinks they are a doctor with the advent of Mobile apps and search engines like Google which gives diagnosis and medications at a glance. Most of the time the diagnosis would be grossly incorrect and medications highly inadequate or overdosed.
Secondly, attributing a good diagnosis of a condition and complete treatment of a medical condition to Gods intervention and blaming the Doctor when a patient could not be saved is the biggest irony. When a Doctor makes a life saving intervention or diagnosis and his intellectual brilliance saves the life or someone, he is grossly under credited. On the contrary, most of the time he is blamed for giving unnecessary medications and increasing their Medical bill !!
The Medical community has to live with the reality that patient awareness is increasing thanks to advent of technological advances. It would be desirable if the general public would take advantage of the information that they have to understand the limitations and constraints the Medical practitioners have in treating the patient.
The biggest drawback of Medical education in India according to me is the lack of communication skills that most Doctors have. In fact acquiring communication skills is paramount in reducing Doctor- Patient conflicts and unnecessary confusion. Gone are the days when a medical practitioner had to keep things and diagnosis to himself and consider himself to be above all.
Nowadays, in the era of communication and information it is imperative that all information is know to one and all, and hence bystanders and patients have to be informed of each and every step taken as part of the treatment.
Acquiring communication skills would go a long way in reducing unnecessary confusion and conflict.
Then comes the role of the Media in adding fuel to fire. In the run for higher TRP ratings the media houses is ready even to show fake news and pass it off as news. The run for ratings and competition with other media such as social media have led to a condition where anything is news.
Creating drama for news and unfairly blaming Doctors, playing to the tune of general public mood is deplorable and does not have support of facts. This goes a long way in reducing the morale of the Medical fraternity where you won’t be able to blame them if they from now on see this profession as any other business rather than a noble one that it is.
I feel West Bengal Government under CM Mamta Didi showed leadership in diffusing a tense situation with prompt action. What remains to be seen is if promises will be fulfilled. Under the deal between IMA and the Government such promises were made to include assault on Doctors a cognisable offence. This should act as a deterrence on the unruly people and should be made universal law throughout the country.
Technological advancements, information and social media should not make us into pessimists. On the contrary we should become more receptable to facts. Let us hope the media too will come around and show facts. The media from print or social media has a big role to play in improving Doctor- Patient relationship.
While the general public should show restraint when things do not go their way, the Doctors too should show empathy towards the patients and their bystanders.
The Hospital Managements too should should make sure conflicts be dissolved quickly, doctors given good working conditions including humane work timings so that they don’t get overspent.
Collective intervention of civil society, General
Public, Medical students , Doctors, Hospital Managements and the Media can help in ensuring no one faces what poor Paribaha Mukhopadhyay has had to face.
If we continue the pessimistic attitude towards Medicos and the Medical community in general then working as a medical professional in the near future would be really tough, in turn affecting the healthcare of our country.
Food for Thought.......
RC
#stopviolenceagainstdoctors
rohitchennithala.home.blog
rohitchennithala.blogspot.com
Paribaha Mukhopadhyay 24, always wanted to study medicine and serve people. Who is Paribaha? He was a bright student, a school topper who also came first in his Higher Secondary examination from Howrah district. Before his career as a doctor could take off Paribaha, a House Surgeon in Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College (NRS), Kolkata was assaulted allegedly by bystanders of a patient. He suffered depressed fracture in the right frontal region which is a bone in the skull, with contusion supposedly from a blunt object like a brick.
Though the patient is stable at present the incident caused huge uproar in West Bengal, taken up by the media and ensured mass resignations from Doctors. Doctors from all over the country including the IMA have been strongly standing by the protesting doctors from Kolkata , who are demanding proper security to doctors.
IMAs nationwide strike on the 17th of June was complete.
This is not the first incident or a one off incident of assault on doctors. What makes it more difficult is the visible public apathy and angst against the doctor community in general.
With the advent of social media and social awareness it was generally thought that public awareness would improve the condition of patients as well as public perception of Doctors. In fact what we are seeing is a general deterioration of public perception of Medical professionals. Things have taken such a bad turn that Medical Professionals are generally seen with apathy and anger.
So where lies the problem? Does the problem lie with the Medical professionals or with the general public. It is anyone’s guess that both have to take steps towards change in attitude, best practices and general consensus on Doctor- Patient relationship.
Firstly, the perception of the general public about a medical practitioner has to change. What they should understand is the amount of stress and hardships they a Medico has to go through before he completes his Medical degree. Most junior doctors are underpaid and work under deplorable conditions. The misconception that all doctors earn well and lead a very high standard of living is a myth.
In fact on the contrary for the amount of skill sets that Doctors require for becoming not a brilliant but an average Doctor is not even comparable to what skills one requires for say a civil servant or an engineer.
Gone are the days when Doctors were considered next to Gods and treated with reverence and respect that they deserve.
In fact now everyone thinks they are a doctor with the advent of Mobile apps and search engines like Google which gives diagnosis and medications at a glance. Most of the time the diagnosis would be grossly incorrect and medications highly inadequate or overdosed.
Secondly, attributing a good diagnosis of a condition and complete treatment of a medical condition to Gods intervention and blaming the Doctor when a patient could not be saved is the biggest irony. When a Doctor makes a life saving intervention or diagnosis and his intellectual brilliance saves the life or someone, he is grossly under credited. On the contrary, most of the time he is blamed for giving unnecessary medications and increasing their Medical bill !!
The Medical community has to live with the reality that patient awareness is increasing thanks to advent of technological advances. It would be desirable if the general public would take advantage of the information that they have to understand the limitations and constraints the Medical practitioners have in treating the patient.
The biggest drawback of Medical education in India according to me is the lack of communication skills that most Doctors have. In fact acquiring communication skills is paramount in reducing Doctor- Patient conflicts and unnecessary confusion. Gone are the days when a medical practitioner had to keep things and diagnosis to himself and consider himself to be above all.
Nowadays, in the era of communication and information it is imperative that all information is know to one and all, and hence bystanders and patients have to be informed of each and every step taken as part of the treatment.
Acquiring communication skills would go a long way in reducing unnecessary confusion and conflict.
Then comes the role of the Media in adding fuel to fire. In the run for higher TRP ratings the media houses is ready even to show fake news and pass it off as news. The run for ratings and competition with other media such as social media have led to a condition where anything is news.
Creating drama for news and unfairly blaming Doctors, playing to the tune of general public mood is deplorable and does not have support of facts. This goes a long way in reducing the morale of the Medical fraternity where you won’t be able to blame them if they from now on see this profession as any other business rather than a noble one that it is.
I feel West Bengal Government under CM Mamta Didi showed leadership in diffusing a tense situation with prompt action. What remains to be seen is if promises will be fulfilled. Under the deal between IMA and the Government such promises were made to include assault on Doctors a cognisable offence. This should act as a deterrence on the unruly people and should be made universal law throughout the country.
Technological advancements, information and social media should not make us into pessimists. On the contrary we should become more receptable to facts. Let us hope the media too will come around and show facts. The media from print or social media has a big role to play in improving Doctor- Patient relationship.
While the general public should show restraint when things do not go their way, the Doctors too should show empathy towards the patients and their bystanders.
The Hospital Managements too should should make sure conflicts be dissolved quickly, doctors given good working conditions including humane work timings so that they don’t get overspent.
Collective intervention of civil society, General
Public, Medical students , Doctors, Hospital Managements and the Media can help in ensuring no one faces what poor Paribaha Mukhopadhyay has had to face.
If we continue the pessimistic attitude towards Medicos and the Medical community in general then working as a medical professional in the near future would be really tough, in turn affecting the healthcare of our country.
Food for Thought.......
RC
#stopviolenceagainstdoctors
rohitchennithala.home.blog
rohitchennithala.blogspot.com
Comments
Post a Comment