Doctors Ain’t God.

Doctors Ain’t God! Think of them as Just Human!

Dr Anil Kumar Bhadoria IMA Indore

In two hundred years of Allopathy, i.e. modern pattern of healing has created wonder drugs, injections, vaccines, and state of art surgical skills to save millions of lives and give quality life all across humanity. Therefore, since last century, doctors have been given a misnomer, God, who has done wonders in saving lives through N number of researches, interventions, inventions, and diagnostic procedures to help people at large.

Once was the day when in 1896 even a simple X-ray was a rocket science to diagnose a fracture in the bone. Fever relieving drug molecule, Paracetamol came into existence in 1893, and only after much research insulin was identified in 1922.

Edward Jenner discovered a vaccine against smallpox in 1786 and the first antibiotic to save both human and animal life was discovered in 1928 by A. Fleming. And that was more than a research galore. And since the 1950s, the arena of medicine has started progressing exponentially. You can imagine a full generation that witnessed CT scans as a scientific marvel, bringing out a paradigm shift in diagnosing a space-occupying lesion in the human body, post-trauma or otherwise.

Because of all these inventions and discoveries, Society started praising doctors as God and kept accepting these new Diagnostics and interventional tools which were engineering marvels.

These healers have an appetite to keep ahead of all previous positions. Therefore surgery saw Leproscopes, Radiology saw MRI & ultrasound, Oncology got PET scans and tomography, Neurology received DSA scans, Cardiology accepted Angiography, Angioplasty, CABG, and even Heart transplantation. In contrast, medicine receives drug molecules in every situation, be it Pain, Stress, High Sugar, Swelling, High BP, and whatnot. Even Bone lengthening is made possible with many surgical procedures. Even kleptomania and OCD have drugs now as Science & research kept on delivering drug molecules in a variety of forms. We now have tablets, capsules, suppositories, aerosols, injectables, sprays, Rubeficients, creams, syrups, elixirs, liniments, drops, nasal sprays and whatnot without any stops. The God-like or Demi-God or Godly nomenclature of treating physicians or surgeons has escalated the profile of Medical man by manifolds.

Are they actually God?

This can be a question to discuss for society!!

The specificity of a 100 percent cure rate for any doctor can never be possible as the signs of cure are a domain of uncertainty as well as probability.

The same procedure or drug can have different responses in two different people. Somehow or the other recent times has started seeing doctors have been beaten for not getting the desired results on the patient.

Have the doctors become devils or they were wrongly called God or they were never a God?

Wrong perception is in the air with money, everything on this earth can be purchased. So also is thought that health can be attained by money and all diseases can be cured.

Is it so?

If you start thinking money can give you facilities, but not health, you can purchase the time and skill of a physician or Surgeon, but the outcome of the prescription or procedure is just probable and uncertain.

The cure rate is sensitive to diagnosis and specific to resistance and the health profile and status of a patient.

These godly figures have never been God, but these gentlemen doctors are known to educate society about preventive health and curative health both. No doctor advocates for smoking or tobacco chewing or drinking alcohol but it’s a known fact people practice all these and blame it later on all treatment failure, not on to their bad habits but to treatment protocol and the doctor’s treatment.

Is it justified?

Does this demonize the profession as a whole?

Once called, God, now, doctors are Demons? Is it so?

It’s when the patient rushes to a five-star hotel like a corporate Hospital and wishes to be cured immediately with high-end diagnostic tools procedures and interventions. It’s achieved also in almost the majority of cases, but that doesn’t let anyone declare the doctor as God or even otherwise! To err is human and to forgive is divine is an old saying. Errors, omissions, negligence, or complications are mostly likely in this uncertain science, contrary to mathematical logic or financial might.

What is the way out?

Human Society has to be briefed that being healthy is a domain of regular exercise, a balanced diet, vaccines, regular drugs taken in a particular disease, and regular check-ups with a physician or family physician.

Society has to accept the Human Doctor as Human and not as God or a godly figure. Neither Divine nor Devil.

Society has to consider the Medical profession like other professions with the possibilities of positive or negative outcomes very much likely, leading to an unattainable 100% guaranteed cure rate.

Society may learn to admire the role of preventive health measures to keep fit and avoid unnecessary visits to hospitals or consultants.

Society has to learn to avoid self-prescription through advertisements and to take the liberty to use OTC drugs or magical panacea, food, or chemicals which if taken can give multiple adverse effects and then the patient rushes to a Doctor who faces all difficulties in restoring the status of normalcy.

Society may learn and let the upcoming generation learn that smoking, alcohol, narcotics drugs, marijuana, cannabis, or anything like that deteriorates the health with involvement of multiple organs such as the oral cavity, gastrointestinal tract, liver, brain, arteries, and even blood.

Society may adopt a minimum profile of discipline on traveling on the road. A good number of bikers & car travelers meet with fatal accidents which can be avoided by following the traffic rules and lane-following culture. Powerful vehicles and good roads tempt to drive very fast leading to accidents. The hospitals and doctors later face the rage reaction to such incidents leading to a pathetic notion the doctor killed the patient.

Is it justified?

The society has to inculcate a curriculum of physical as well as mental sports in colonies, residential societies, villages, and slum areas, where racket sports, track and field sports, ball game, and board games for growing children are arranged, which will let them sustain good immunity to avoid trivial infections.

Society has to keep a smart distance from advertisement-based treatment methods and drugs which will hamper health on a permanent note.

Society has to keep abreast with preventive health measures like travel protocol, vaccines, proper dosing of drugs, balanced diet, and regular schedule of exercise, walking, running, swimming, or even cycling.

These measures if followed rigorously and religiously, will definitely keep the society healthy not only at an individual level but also help develop Herd immunity in the society. Remember doctors AIN’T God, life is stylish!

Is it so?

Let’s think that way!

DR ANIL KUMAR BHADORIA

PRESIDENT IMA INDORE Br