Medical profession is considered to be the most noble, that serves the society irrespective of caste and creed for their better health, wellbeing and mental peace. That is why, this profession is considered as one of the strongest pillars of healthy society viewing the doctor as nearest to God. I remember my childhood days in a village, of a family doctor visiting for a medical problem of any member of the family without ant fees, and sending the bill during Diwali time that too depending on the economic standard of the family. Today we miss such family doctors.
When a patient comes to a doctor, he surrenders himself to the doctor to get his lost health back and his health problem solved. This truly reflects the ideology of the doctor king – the protector of life. My medical science practice as a laboratory Endocrinologist way back in 1984 in Ahmedabad-Gujarat started with a well-known and reputed pioneer pathologist Dr. Bipin Shah and Dr. Niranjan Shah in ‘Shah Pathology Laboratory’ opening a new branch as an Endocrine Laboratory the first of its kind in Gujarat. Since it was new, eminent doctors like Prof. R.M. Shah (H.O.D Medicine at Sheth V.S. Hospital), Prof. Rajju Banker (H.O.D Obstetrics and Gynecology, V.S. Hospital), Dr. Miss S.C. Pandya, Dr R.M. Nadkarni, Dr Premal Thakore and many other Physicians, Gynecologists, and Pediatricians would personally come or call to understand the clinical utility of various endocrine tests that were new for patient health care. The main motto of these doctors was patient benefit and better health with minimum cost and maximum output. The doctors considered patient’s problems as their own. Even, I would like to recall my mentor Dr H. I. Jhala, Medical Superintendent and Director of Research at Sir. H.N. Hospital, way back in 1978, giving me a Lancet article on identification of raised alpha fetoprotein in mothers blood having a child with neural tube defects and asked me to standardize this technique for my research work that can benefit thousands of mothers having a child with NTDs.
Medical ethics was so strong that no doctor would advertise or indulge in any personal campaigns. The entire medical profession consisted of true professionals, competing for excellence in knowledge and service. But when this profession turns into a business, it excels in making money under constant acquisition instead of retention. This type of customer rather than patient approach has resulted in the mushrooming of healthcare centers by business houses and marketing personnel which has resulted in controlling of doctors by business people, compromising medical ethics. It is a daunting task now to go back to the correct route of medical service and ethics.
My memories go back to the early nineties with Dr Jayant Hari Bhakti a well-known, kind, noted surgeon of Gujarat, who used to come to our laboratory early morning with his friend to oversee his investigation, as would also Dr Bakul Patel a well-known infertility specialist. Such cordial patient-doctor relations are missing now due to the business approach to this profession.
What I see after forty years in the medical field knowing every part of this pious profession, is its transformation to customer relations with the patient. The worst part is that the businessman owned corporate hospitals have employed leading doctors with a luring amount of money. In return they dictate patient management in practice, compromising the ethics with unwanted investigations and exhaustive corporate charges. Nonetheless there is also a good part of these hospitals in providing all services under one roof. These unwanted investigations are also due to the weak relation of doctor and patient, and loss of confidence in each other. This reminds me of my meetings with Dr Sumant Shah a leading physician of the state, taking half an hour in noting down every small point of the patient, giving minimum medicines, and targeting the root cause of disease. Such testimonial doctors are now rare due to lack of time and trust. He was the one who drew my attention to carry out ultrasensitive TSH in 1988, an article that was published in the Lancet that can diagnose subclinical hyper and hypothyroidism. Such motivation and dedication existed then which seems to have been lost due to overburden of patients and loss of interest in knowledge and care-based excellence.
To summarize I would like to quote “Do not use science as a money changer” (Dr. A.P. J Abdul Kalam in ISHG Conference-2014, Ahmedabad). I hope, our brilliant, dedicated doctors will strengthen the undermined medical system, justifying the Hippocratic Oath that states that a doctor should follow a regimen that they believe will benefit their patients, and prioritize beneficence (acting in the patient’s best interest) and non-maleficence (avoiding harm).
The article presents the author’s personal journey, observations, experiences and perspectives. It is not under the ambit of peer review and the responsibility of its content and referred people is that of the author only.
