“Medical education does not exist to provide students the way of making a living but to ensure the community’s health, only those who regard healing as the ultimate goal of their effort are designated as physicians.”
-Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902)
The medical profession demands more concentration, time, and sacrifice. That’s why some enthusiasts follow it, and families want their members to get into this profession. Ironically, jumping into the career of medical professionals is becoming more like a field of massive investment and desires a similar hefty return.
Not the meritocracy and competency but one’s financial capability decides to achieve the careers of medical professionals like doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc. Commercialization in the health and education sector, otherwise supposed to be a fundamental and guaranteed right of citizens, government-owned and free, has become a nightmare for the rest who could not afford it.
Nepotism and favoritism are notorious modern-day bullies in every field. The medical field is not milk-washed in this regard. This ill has all-time fertilized the ground of rising voices against impartiality and inclusiveness on the other side. Justice sold is justice denied. But this is the fate of people here.
Dr. Govinda KC tried to uncover the reality of what is going on inside the medical education and service. Guidance for society or political system should function according to the theories based on meeting the needs and aspirations for mass people’s interest.
If people are unhappy, unrest prevails. If it is against the medical system, then medics need to introspect. History is evident that powerless folks explode when their unspoken or even spoken demands are not duly addressed. The attack against medics could be an explosion for medical embezzlement from whom they expect to rebuild debilitated public health care.
Indeed, patients are increasingly demanding, angered even with unrealistic expectations, and ungrateful for what we as medical professionals and system runners are doing for the public.
Medical professionals are getting training, foreign trips, lucrative posts and incomes, and social identity, all backed up and coming from the taxpayers’ pockets. Doctors in public service need to rescue their integrity by keeping themself busy inside the public hospitals. They need to prove themselves as loyal civil servants. We need to be positive, keeping ourselves aloof from private corporate hospitals, at least during their official work hours, and stay committed to serving those who seek their service under the public roof.
Consultants’ presence is mandatory when trainees and interns attend the patients for optimal care.
Yes! Salary and perks are not adequate. This should not be the ground to ignore the public seeking health care for their dear lives. They can use the budget allocated to prepare for comprehensive health services inside the hospital to raise income and dignity. Health care administrators, too, prove themselves responsible for the charge they are designated and for which their institutions are formed.
The issue was not that bad in the past. When under-numbered doctors and paramedics are serving a vast population, why are people getting impatient with these huge numbers of newly emerging qualified health workers? Are they discrediting the qualification of recent medical education?
The emergence of various exams to get license and entrance examinations is validating it. All certified medical workers are verified by pronounced professional knowledge and skills up to date through the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program and license renewal exams taken by the Nepal Medical council. Where is the ground to be skeptical for their learned efficacy?
‘Jail without bail’ is a security assurance for medics. Are medics trying to assure the public by clarifying their doubts?
Medics need to play a direct role in reorganizing the service pattern: a full-time presence in one institution. Private sectors can too take in confidence regarding the health costs and charges. Government need to assure quarters, logistics, social security of the medical workers. Nepal Medical Council should proceed to take updating exams.
Already MEC and NEET exams are examples of the necessary aptitude for academics to get into this field. First, bringing faith among medical persons, genuine inter-referral trustworthy teamwork, ethical practices, standard sensible and empathetic patient-family-community value-oriented therapeutic plans should be the pillars of practice.
Incorporating regular belief systems and cultural medical therapies into medical courses or vice versa may help bridge the social acceptance for allopathy.
Is the mob fighting against medics just motivated to secure an unreasonable monetary gain? How are they getting support? Is this the grudges of the sect unable to get a medical career when their weaker fellows got it through the solid financial ground? When candidates of inadequate academic status use their financial muscle to gain a medical degree by political or bureaucratic influence, how do the same politicians or civil servants trust them to operate their hearts and brains? Moreover, the same clan keeps lurching around, begging leverages from them again and again.
Prosperity might be synonymous with success and social status. The income of bankers, engineers, politicians, bureaucrats, high-ranking security personnel, and customs officers is not directly visible in the public eyes. But the fees and salary of the medical practitioners minimally paid or made are now drawing public attention. People are even unreasonably furious about their costs to pay for the medical services and demanding impossible guarantees of saving lives too. Who cares for such painful suffering that medical professionals have been suffering from for years and years the land?
Promote and support the health insurance system not only pull out the direct financial burden on the health system but also check ethics in medical proceedings.
Are doctors promoting the medical system or education? Planning Commission and Technocrats plan medical strategy as per need. As the course is challenging, they give scholarships. Institute of Medicine(IOM), the initiating institute, was training a very few students in the name of quality and had less effort to retain them in the recent past until the bond was strictly regulated.
So doctors are not the only final deciding factors but are only accompaniment to run the medical system. Unfortunately, they have been targeted with all the charges of the system’s flaws for ages.
Doctor Narendra P Banskota is a medical professional from Kathmandu, Nepal.
Very nice writing