Two
roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I
took the one less traveled by,
And
that has made all the difference.
–Robert Frost
For the past few days the newspapers
have carried several stories about attacks on doctors in various parts of
Maharashtra and about Resident Doctors, who are also post graduate or super
speciality students, going on mass casual leave as a mark of protest. Their
demand is Safety at Workplace, which is a matter of concern for all. My
question is if every worker has a right to it, why not the doctors? Are they
any different?
Certain other questions came to my mind
while reading about the incidents in various newspapers:
A doctor in a government hospital in
Dhule is so badly beaten up that he is likely to lose his vision. Another,
polio afflicted doctor is attacked in a Mumbai civic hospital. In a third incident, a lady doctor is beaten
up by a child patient’s relatives. It left me wondering, if this had happened
to any other professional in any other field of work would the activists and
the venerable media not have taken up the cudgels for them? Then what is the reason for this apathy
towards the doctors?
A judge pronouncing- “They (doctors) can resign and stay at home,
if they are so scared.”
I am left wondering if it is wrong to
fear for your life.
On a social media site, a defiant
Resident Doctor wrote:
“They
said they’ll throw us out of the hostel…but those people don’t know we live in
ward side rooms.
They said they’ll cut our 6 months pay….but
again they don’t know we hardly get time to spend that
money.
They said they’ll cut water supply but again
those innocent people don’t even know we hardly get time to take bath.”
No one can miss the sadness in these lines.
Nearly forty years ago when my brother
was a junior doctor in a Government Hospital in Calcutta similar stories had
flashed across the newspapers. We, at home, would pour over these stories and
empathize with them. We waited with bated breath as we heard of suspension
letters being issued and termination or eviction letters being typed. The
Government’s trump card has always been invoking the ESMA. Ultimately the
doctors bow to the Hippocrates’ Oath that they have sworn and return to work.
In the last four decades these stories get
repeated after every couple of years or so. Today is no different. I see the
pictures of many of my daughter’s friends holding placards saying “Save
Doctors, Stop Violence”. Nothing seems
to have changed.
Many of these doctors, who are on “mass
casual leave” for the past few days, are known to me. Some of them, who have
been pouring out their hearts in anguish, on the social media with the hash tag
‘ab ki baar aar ya paar’ have come to my house on several occasions. They have
grown up before my eyes from happy, carefree, fun loving teenagers, with dreams
in their eyes and determination to do the impossible, to responsible,
hardworking, conscientious doctors. The dreams are still very much there… only
the reality checks ring in a harsh note.
As eighteen year olds they had lots of
options before them since each of them had graduated from high school with
flying colours. Most of them were toppers in their respective schools. Many had
secured seats in the best of science and technology institutes in the country.
With their perfect scores in high school as well as innumerable competitive
examinations, they had to just name any institute of repute in the country and
they could have secured admission there.
Many came from affluent backgrounds with good scores and grades in the
eligibility tests and had the option to go abroad to pursue higher studies.
They were, in fact, spoilt for choices. And they made a choice. Right or wrong
is open to debate since nothing is absolute. To this day they stand by their
choice, they have no regrets.
They chose to pursue Medicine. Some of
them were encouraged by their families to do so, some were not. They chose the
more difficult path, the path less chosen. And that has made all the difference.
As students, from the very first year
it was made clear to them that they were treading a difficult path and the very
first thing that they would have to forget were vacations. The only ‘vacations’
that they knew of in their five-and-a-half-year curriculum were the fortnightly
study leave that they would be given. When the rest of the world were enjoying
annual vacations they were burning the midnight oil and pouring over
innumerable books. As interns they were told to forget about public holidays
and Sundays too, to give them a taste of what they would be truly in for from
then on. As residents, too, they have to forget about their families- a sick or
dying parent is no excuse for taking leave. I know of one boy who could not be
with his father while he was undergoing treatment for cancer and I have heard
of another Resident Doctor who was allowed to go only for a day to see her
father who had suffered a cerebral stroke and come back the next day without
even knowing whether she would ever see him again. As for not being well, that
is inexcusable. A friend or a cousin’s wedding, better learn to give it a miss.
They have to be happy enjoying the photographs and videos on social media. They
are probably the only ones who cannot expect even the friends they work with to
be present at their weddings. As it is, these unfortunate doctor friends have
to cover up for all their emergency and OPD duties -how can they attend the
wedding celebrations also?
They themselves never complain. We, as
family, feel bad for them.
Perhaps, many would like to say they knew what
they were in for when they chose the profession. That is undeniable. True. My
point is, though true, it is not easy. These are young men and women in the
prime of their youth. Like all young people their age they, too, fall in love;
they, too, like music and dance; they too have to deal with broken hearts and
broken families; they too have talents which, most often, remain unnoticed and stifled
because they have chosen to deal with death, disease and morbidity. They have
their own way of finding vents- may be a very late night party to celebrate a
successful operation or catching a late night show in the nearest theatre after
having had the most harrowing day in the EMS.
Still, they never complain.
But when the very people they serve
beat one of them up so mercilessly that
the doctor is likely to lose his vision and an even more inhuman court
proclaims that if doctors are so scared, they can resign and sit at home, they
are bound to raise their voices in concern. Perhaps, the Honourable Court has
forgotten that everyone has a Right to Safety.
From the many doctors I have
encountered, I have got the feeling that nothing gives them a greater high than
curing a patient and sending him back home. Not being able to heal is perhaps
their biggest fear, their greatest defeat, their ultimate failure. Perhaps, it
is this pride in their work, this joy of healing and this confidence in their
specialized knowledge that keeps them going. Whenever I speak to these young
doctors who have chosen a specialized area to work in, they are happy doing
what they are doing despite the odd hours and heavy work load. Many of them are
meritorious students who could have gone to the USA or UK to do their residency
or pursue their specialization but, once again, they chose not to, unlike some
of their friends. They chose to remain back since they felt they were required
more here keeping in mind the imbalance in the doctor patient ratio. What they,
probably, forgot to see is that this country fails to give merit its due
recognition.
I seriously do not believe a doctor
would deliberately not try to do good to the patient. Competency can be
questioned or even human errors might creep in under the stressful conditions
they work in. Sometimes, these Resident Doctors are working continuously for 36
hours. On an average a Resident Doctor works for 14-18 hours every day without
break and he has to do so keeping all his faculties alert. Most of the time he
is also on the move, on his feet.
Though I am digressing, I wish to share
an experience with my readers. Recently, I went to a reputed multi-national
bank with my husband to get my name added as a joint holder. Despite there not
being anyone in the queue ahead of us, it took the executive, sitting in one of
the swankiest offices in one of the posh suburbs of Mumbai, exactly four hours
to get the application registered. Even after a month we heard nothing from the
bank despite having completed all the formalities and documentation on that day
itself. Finally, only after a reminder and complaint was the work done. In four
hours, on an average, under the most trying conditions, a junior doctor in a
public hospital would surely have attended to at least 20-30 patients, if not
more. Otherwise the public would, surely, have lynched him! Strangely, it is
always the public sector workers who get blamed for inefficiency though I am
sure even a nationalized bank employee cannot afford to move at a speed of one
client in half a day!
As for all doctors not being diligent
or ethical is perhaps as true as it is in any other profession. Only their
dereliction of duty affects human life directly unlike in others. Hence, they
cannot be pardoned easily either. But then every profession has its share of
evil, corrupt, unethical people. You find them everywhere- in bureaucracy, in
legal and even in the corporate world. I am not writing in support of them.
They have to reckon for their own misdeeds.
My only appeal is to have a little
patience and empathy for these overburdened Soldiers of God who try their best
to alleviate our pain, to give us a respite from our suffering. They are human
and sometimes errors or mistakes do creep in but should we not also remember
that in many of these cases the doctors have little hand in their deaths.
Sometimes the patient’s condition is so critical that little is left to be
done, at other times they are rushed in at the very last moment or there may be
underlying conditions which complicate the cases. Before beating up another
human being, who is trying to help us, should we not once stop to think about
the conditions under which the doctor has to perform his duties. As a layman, I
cannot go into the exact doctor-patient ratio in our country or the
infrastructural or other competency issues since I am not qualified to do so.
But before beating up a doctor mercilessly should the relatives of the patient
not remember for once that this person was only trying to do his best to heal.
Or do these young men and women, who
chose to serve humanity, have to remind us like Shylock, the Jew, in The Merchant Of Venice:
If
you prick us, do we not bleed?
If
you tickle us, do we not laugh?
If
you poison us, do we not die?
And
if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?
If we are not careful, very soon we may
need to protect another endangered species - the Doctors!
DS
