Most doctors are trained to
do everything possible to help their patients get better. We’re used to
spending sleepless nights monitoring our patients; running around to arrange blood when the patient is bleeding; being sleep deprived ;
and skipping meals, so that we can keep our dying patients alive .
We don’t think about personal comfort
and duty hours when our patients need us. We don’t look at the clock,
and we don't think about the fact that we haven't eaten for hours, or
that there is no one senior who can guide us when we are out of our
depth in the middle of the night, because our focus is on helping our
patients to recover. Even when we are unsure what to do , we persevere
and do our best with whatever resources are available to us, to make
sure our patients do not die on our watch.
We’ve been taught that good doctors
always put their patients first, and will sacrifice their personal well being to do whatever is needed to help them to heal. This credo is
deeply embedded in the culture of medicine , and this is why the role
model for doctors are heroic surgeons who will move heaven and earth to
help their patients fight death. They are our role models; we share
their stories, and try to follow in their footsteps.
However , given all the episodes of
doctor bashing which have started occurring recently, I don’t think
doctors will be willing to stick their neck out for their patients
anymore. In the past, when they had a critically ill patient, they would
slog through the night; mobilize resources; get help; donate blood;
organize medicines and disposable supplies even if nothing was available
in the hospital - do whatever was needed to snatch their patients from
the jaws of death.
They didn’t complain about inadequate
facilities; under-staffing ; or that they were overworked. They did
whatever they had to , and they took pride in their ability to function
under completely adverse conditions.
Most young doctors are idealistic, and
they want to save lives, which is why they choose to become doctors.
This is the medical tradition and culture, which has been passed on from
generation to generation. This is why doctors revere medical heroes
such as Albert Schweitzer , who sacrificed so much in order to help
their patients.
However, thanks to the way we ill-treat
our doctors and allow them to get beaten up by not being able to provide
them even basic security, I think this tradition is going to sadly die
out. Doctors are going to start thinking of protecting themselves first,
and when they are confronted with a critically ill patient, their
self-preservation instinct will kick in. Their first priority will be to
protect themselves from ungrateful and unappreciative relatives, rather
than try to battle massive odds in order to try to save the life of a
critically ill patient. God help us all !
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