The attack upon a junior doctor at Kolkata's NRS hospital triggered a weeklong strike by the medical community which ended only after negotiations with the Chief Minister. The strike may have ended; however, this incident has forced us to think about healthcare and medical professionals in India. Where on the one hand we revere them and expect them to heal us, on the other we revile them; think of them as exploitative and mercenary.
On the one hand, is a scene that is hilarious for Manoj Kumar's hamming and the storyline, where listening to a patriotic song miraculously ‘cures’ Ashok Kumar’s heart attack. But the scene is also telling in the way that it speaks about doctors. There is loathing in the voice of the actor who speaks about a doctor demanding ‘fees’. Manoj Kumar talks witheringly of a person who wants money more than the wellbeing of his patient and good name of his profession.
This reflects a general attitude among us; that doctors should somehow be above the lowly need to earn a living, to have aspirations or to look after their families and dream of a good life for themselves. We expect doctors to perform miracles but we are outraged when doctors expect to be paid commensurate with their expertise, their experience and their extensive training. This, we believe is avaricious and unethical.
Earlier in June 2019, a 75-year-old patient died in Kolkata's NRS hospital, following which the family of the deceased alleged medical negligence; brutally assaulting two junior doctors. This triggered a week-long doctor’s strike which found echoes around India. Doctors refused to work; government hospitals and outpatient departments remained closed. Medical professionals asked for better work security while wearing symbolic head bandages to protest the head injuries that the junior doctors sustained. The protests spilled over to many other parts of India as well.
There is no denying that there are some unethical, even criminal medical professionals, some of who knowingly engage in illegal organ trading. Instances of medical negligence also come to light from time to time and many of us also experience how some doctors ask patients to undergo tests and procedures that may not be necessary.
However, there are some facts about the medical community that we tend to conveniently forget. Some of our brightest and most hardworking minds choose medicine as a profession. They work hard to get into medical college and then work even harder to train to be doctors. They sacrifice some of the best years of their life to gain the knowledge and the experience required to become a doctor. Junior doctors are typically overworked and underpaid. In these exacting circumstances, we expect them to make accurate diagnoses, recommend an effective treatment protocol and not charge too much for it all. We expect that they should know it all and make no mistakes whatsoever. We expect that they should be willing to work around the clock, never refuse to treat a patient and work for free if so demanded. In short, we expect doctors to be saints – brilliant miracle-workers.
We see doctors as different from other professionals. We expect them to give up their leisure time, to do whatever necessary to ‘cure’ and ‘save’ patients. This is unreasonable and unfair. Would we, for instance, expect a lawyer to take up a case that he had no time or inclination for? Would we demand that a chartered accountant handle the finances of a person at any time of the day or night; perhaps instead of a much-needed vacation? Then why do we expect this of a medical professional?
Why do we expect miracles from them? Why do we think that they cannot and should not make the same human mistakes that the rest of us do? Are doctors not entitled to enjoy leisure time, to take vacations, to spend time with and to hope to provide a comfortable life for their families? Why do we have a jaundiced view of the renowned heart specialist with a beautiful bungalow or an expert surgeon with a swank car? Why should doctors not charge fees commensurate with their talent, expertise and experience?
Yes, there are some bad doctors – there are avaricious ones, incompetent ones and maybe even criminals in the medical fraternity. The same is true for society at large. We cannot expect doctors to be better, more noble, more selfless than the rest of us. They have the same aspirations, hopes and dreams as us. They also have the same apprehensions and fears; the same likelihood of making mistakes. If we stopped expecting doctors to be better than the rest of us, instances such as the Kolkata assault may not happen. Then perhaps the doctors may not feel aggrieved enough to go on strike and further exacerbate the situation. Then perhaps we may have a more realistic reaction to a doctor than Manoj Kumar who speaks with loathing about a doctor who demands fees.
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