Is the Patient treating the Doctor well ?

My late brother , who was a Mathematics professor, more by passion , used to say that 'teaching is one of the noblest professions' and I had never disagreed or challenged his conviction. I have heard enough comparisons of teacher with ladder etc., and the respect that a student pays when he sees the teacher even after decades is ample testimony of the encomiums heaped on this great profession consisting of selfless teachers.

Almost on the same lines I am tempted to put the medical professionals, despite the varied reactions that it could attract. Similar to the teachers in whom you entrust your ward's future, one entrusts the whole body itself to the men in white coats, more out of necessity than confidence. It is a matter of great satisfaction that the doctors too have by and large not belied the expectations of the suffering masses!

I could recollect, sometime in early seventies, my father rushing back from his professional work in Bengaluru holding a plastic mug in one hand suffering a urinary blockage and the relief he had when the block was cleared in minutes by our family doctor !

More recently I had occasion to visit the emergency of a nearby hospital supporting a broken hand in the dead of night and it was a relief to see a set of medics receiving me and immediately providing the necessary relief. In the prevailing pandemic situation the doctors and nurses were so professional and casual , trying to put  me at ease that I even managed to crack a joke while the sling was placed over a plaster of Paris pack. As my treatment was being completed there whined another ambulance siren which brought in a cardiac patient all the way from Telengana and the emergency team moved over to the gate with the same zeal !

While I was concerned about the atmosphere where patients with varied sufferings were being brought in, the medical team was just doing their job with a face mask and a pair of gloves, sipping some tea in between attending to suffering patients.

The next day after I underwent a surgery to correct an arm disorder, and as I was wheeled out of the operation theater to the Recovery room, the interaction between two attending nurses triggered this blog post. When one asked about the lunch as it was past noon, the other replied as "not sure... as my husband went for early duty ..... I think today also I have to manage with some curd rice". Later I learnt that her husband also belonged to the same profession. I was speechless by her priorities, dedication. Easily she could have also gone on leave !

As if this was not enough, when I was discharged from the hospital the next day after a satisfactory procedure, a friend inquiring about it exclaimed how the hospital could charge so much for such a small procedure ! That triggered anger, exhaustion and pushed me more to think about it.

When I slipped at the dead of night and was writhing in pain I ran into the waiting arms of a medical team at challenging situation of exposures and infections while most of the common man were safe inside their drawing rooms, complaining of ennui more from claustrophobic confinement ; a specialist had to be disturbed from his sleep to relieve me from pain; dozen medicos from across specialties like anesthesia, surgery and attending nurses had to be summoned the next day in time; a hospital had to keep their doors open 24 by 7 ensuring uninterrupted supply of power for the conduct of surgery; the pantry was working round the clock to keep the patient and their attendants away from hunger;  a dietitian, a physio therapist ..... the list was endless. Who will pay for their services (note I am not calling it sacrifice, atleast not yet) at odd hours and how will they be paid? From where ?  Most of all, even if they have all the necessary materials to conduct a surgery , what about the specialized knowledge acquired by these professionals to relieve YOU from the pain ? My thoughts were more sharpened by the explanation of a young man who while attending to my arm in the theater was narrating as to how he managed to escape by explaining to so many police men stopping his bike.... all just to reach the hospital and to attend to the suffering mass.!! Come on, Is it not the right time to call these as sacrifices instead of their professional duties ?  - the one who had to answer cops on the way, the one who is yet to think about her approaching lunch, the ones who brave infections and keep receiving patients !!

My thoughts were further confirmed when I met the Executive Director of the hospital who went on to explain how unwisely people avoid hospitals fearing the pandemic and said they care more for the safety of the patients who come to them with other pains and then followed by their own safety. He also said how out of the three cases of cardiac problem, acute appendix and high fever cases who avoided the hospital fearing the spread of infection, one turned out to be serious due to the delay !

While I was working in the much envied and considered lucrative IT services, one of my young Managers used to often lament as to how much we are sacrificing for the sake of the organization vis-a-vis the treatment meted out to us. I never failed to politely remind him that we work for the fat returns while the organization earns out of our skills and that there is no sacrifice involved. I have also seen many outbursts on the social media by my banker friends lamenting about their sacrifice, rather justifiably. I do not mean to belittle the contributions of these professionals but was just trying compare these with the dedication of an ortho Dr who was disturbed from his sleep past midnight to drive twenty minutes and relieve the patient of pain, which cannot wait until the opening of next day's business hours. And while everyone has been advised to stay indoors these souls have braved the situation and exposed themselves, all for treating the suffering souls ; If this is not a noble professional service, I wonder what ever it is !!!

We believe more of social networks and information support systems available on Internet and easily question the cost of pain alleviation , little realizing that it just goes past the normal call of duty.

When a woman delivers, when a heart is revived, when a kidney is transplanted, when a bone is fixed, when a simple bleed on your kid is arrested we heave a sigh of relief and thank the doctor. When we are relieved from an excruciating pain, we say that the doctor was a God ! All we need to do is just to extend the thoughts until the bill is paid. That is all the men and women in white coats may expect. Of course, there are black sheep in every profession but then how wise it will be to paint all of them with the same brush, I leave it more to the suffering patients than to their paying attendants  After all, we were treated to normalcy by the doctors, but then are the patients treating the Doctors well for the services rendered? It time to think.

Dedicated to all the Doctors I know of and others too be it in General medicine, Cardiology, Pulmunology, Dentistry, Urology or any other branch . My salutation to these saviors of humanity!!