GOOD DOCTORS AND OTHERS

This ailment needs urgent treatment


Many years ago there was a doctor in my hometown who was always dressed in a white shirt tucked into a white dhoti, which was fastened by a broad, brown belt. When a patient came to him with any complaint, the doctor usually said, "Let's cut you open and see"(Aruthu paarpom). Some patients laughed at the doctor's sense of humour, and hit it off with him. But some others got terribly scared and quickly vanished from the scene.

Friendly Doctors


Doctors need to have a good `bedside manner'. That will help in expediting the cure. Dr.S.V. Pethaperumal had an excellent rapport with his patients. "You are fine, Sir" (Nalla irukkeenga, Sir) he would say in ebullient tones, and the patient felt as though the cure had already been effected. Dr.Betty Chinniah was another such good doctor. She went out of her way to give hope and confidence to her patients. Dr.Thayumanavar is always cheerful, making his patients feel at ease. Dr.T.Chelliah and Dr.Pappunathan have a friendly attitude towards their patients. The youthful Dr.N.Raja could easily be mistaken for a college student. But he is a specialist in Geriatrics and treats the old characters who come to him with great and earnest consideration. Dr.Beatrice Mary, the Homoeopath, gives such a bright smile when anyone comes for treatment, that the ailment seems to vanish straightaway. There are many more such doctors, no doubt.

Doctors who have other social activities are better natured and pleasant. Dr.Sam C.Bose takes part in club and church activities and is in great demand as a compere of programmes. This perhaps helps him to maintain a relaxed attitude to life. Dr. Durairaj of Kovilpatti spent a lot of time promoting hockey and making that town famous for that game. Dr.Somervelle of Neyyur, was a mountaineer and a landscape artist in addition to being an eminent surgeon. In his attempts to conquer Mount Everest he reached the highest point before Tenzing and Hilary achieved their feat. Dr.Somervelle had a habit of taking a lot of youngsters in his car a few miles out of town and leaving them there to make them find their own way back This was supposed to instil confidence in themselves. Some other doctors are involved in associations meant to promote some good cause or the other.

The Others


But those doctors who pursue their practice to the exclusion of everything else usually tend to be rather brusque and stand-offish. There is one doctor I know who only mumbles, nods or shakes his head to every anxious query of the patient. I don't think anyone has ever seen him smiling. He becomes uncharacteristically voluble however if the patient goes to a lab not recommended by him, even if the lab is a reputable one. Such doctors seem to think that to be a committed doctor one has to take commission.

Once my son slipped on the stairs in his college and injured his knee. We took him to a well known hospital. The chief doctor there was more keen on making his young patient a guinea pig for the benefit of his students than on treating him. He performed what we later came to know was an absolutely unnecessary operation in the presence of his class of students, and incidentally slapped us with a whopping big bill. The dressing was done faultily causing a lot of pain. The doctor checked the dressing and opined that it had to be redone, for which we were charged fully again. There was an item, Rs.75, on the bill, which was for the doctor's opinion that the bandage was wrongly done! Such doctors remind one of the title of a popular Tamil film. Incidentally, the knee gives trouble even after fifteen years

There is another doctor who surrounds himself with modern gadgets. His eyes dart from one machine to another, never deigning to rest on the patient. The bill looked like an instalment payment for all those computerized instruments. A blood test taken there showed the blood sugar level to be 342 mg/dl. The patient rushed immediately to another reputable lab where the reading was 209mg/dl. Obviously the doctor wanted to establish a miraculous effect for his medication.

Sometimes instead of asking "What's wrong with me, Doctor?" the patients feel like asking, "What's wrong with you, Doc?" It's a case calling for treatment.







J.VASANTHAN



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