The world is probably over-rated; but its all we have.
I know it's been ages since I wrote last, but in my defence, I have become lazier and more detached than ever before. Funny enough, this phase happens to coincide with one where I'm required to work the hardest and put in all I have for the welfare of others. Oh well..
It's been 1 year and 21 days since I joined residency in Medicine, and since that day, all I wanted was to do was one thing, Medicine. Instead, I've put a million IV lines, collected litres of blood, filled countless death certificates, and in general, done everything but. And now, after a year of this, when they tell me that I'll have to keep doing this for another few months, because the private colleges aren't making enough money, or that the Supreme court needs a summer break (!), or the government isn't ready to announce the results or hold a counselling, that's when it occurs to me that we, doctors in general, and student doctors in particular, really are a poor lot. And when push comes to shove, we crumble. Despite having so much to stand up for, we don't.
A month ago, the resident doctors of Maharashtra had gone on strike, with demands ranging from better security to stipend hike.The strike ended prematurely, and the matter was dropped. Now when I think about it, we'd gotten it all wrong. Increasing security is not the solution, neither is the money we get. No amount of stipend hikes could make it worthwhile to have to go through what we do. And the security being talked about, is not against terrorism or anti-social elements, but rather against the people themselves; patients and relatives who vent out their anger, frustrated at their perceived level of treatment. Treatment being dealt out by doctors who haven't slept in the last 36 hours, and are still expected to function at their best. When anti-people security is needed, it signifies a system failure. And that's what the strike should have been for.
Here is the problem. We don't have enough people to man the gates.. And here's the solution, get more people. Every year, more than a lakh MBBS students attempt their PG exams. Around 5000 get through, to clinical seats. The rest take up paid seats, do MBA's, or just drop a year to prepare for the next year's exam. Or the next. More than half the students clearing a PG exam have already attempted it more than once before. In other words, thousands of well qualified youngsters in their twenties in this country, routinely put aside 2-3 years just to gain entry to a PG course. The economic loss that must mean to our country must be enormous. Or maybe here's the problem, nobody cares.
I don't really believe for a minute that our government doesn't have the money. There's a nice joke doing the rounds in our hospital, that if 5 ventilators have been ordered, 10 of them will show up, they'll cost as much as 20, and none of them eventually work. I realize I'm speaking as a layman here, but if figures like 20000 crores are being bandied about simply in relation to scams, what's the kind of money they actually have? And where the hell is it? And why isn't anyone asking? So much dust and noise is blown around by the scam itself, that the country seems to forget that there is now 20000 cr of black cash lying somewhere unaccounted for. Money that we, the people, had originally loaned to the government as part of our taxes, expecting it to safeguard and use our investment. Why shouldn't we demand it back? In some form?
That's what the strike should have been for.
Wherever you are, whatever you might be doing, you have suffered, and are suffering. For no reason. Thats what the strike should be for.
It's not about me, and why I haven't gotten juniors. Its not even about doctors and hospitals suffering as much as the patients. Its about our country and her people, and how we are being told to simply accept all the filth that is brought before us, and go through it all, simply because 'what else can you do?'. I think its time the country went on strike.
I know it's been ages since I wrote last, but in my defence, I have become lazier and more detached than ever before. Funny enough, this phase happens to coincide with one where I'm required to work the hardest and put in all I have for the welfare of others. Oh well..
It's been 1 year and 21 days since I joined residency in Medicine, and since that day, all I wanted was to do was one thing, Medicine. Instead, I've put a million IV lines, collected litres of blood, filled countless death certificates, and in general, done everything but. And now, after a year of this, when they tell me that I'll have to keep doing this for another few months, because the private colleges aren't making enough money, or that the Supreme court needs a summer break (!), or the government isn't ready to announce the results or hold a counselling, that's when it occurs to me that we, doctors in general, and student doctors in particular, really are a poor lot. And when push comes to shove, we crumble. Despite having so much to stand up for, we don't.
A month ago, the resident doctors of Maharashtra had gone on strike, with demands ranging from better security to stipend hike.The strike ended prematurely, and the matter was dropped. Now when I think about it, we'd gotten it all wrong. Increasing security is not the solution, neither is the money we get. No amount of stipend hikes could make it worthwhile to have to go through what we do. And the security being talked about, is not against terrorism or anti-social elements, but rather against the people themselves; patients and relatives who vent out their anger, frustrated at their perceived level of treatment. Treatment being dealt out by doctors who haven't slept in the last 36 hours, and are still expected to function at their best. When anti-people security is needed, it signifies a system failure. And that's what the strike should have been for.
Here is the problem. We don't have enough people to man the gates.. And here's the solution, get more people. Every year, more than a lakh MBBS students attempt their PG exams. Around 5000 get through, to clinical seats. The rest take up paid seats, do MBA's, or just drop a year to prepare for the next year's exam. Or the next. More than half the students clearing a PG exam have already attempted it more than once before. In other words, thousands of well qualified youngsters in their twenties in this country, routinely put aside 2-3 years just to gain entry to a PG course. The economic loss that must mean to our country must be enormous. Or maybe here's the problem, nobody cares.
I don't really believe for a minute that our government doesn't have the money. There's a nice joke doing the rounds in our hospital, that if 5 ventilators have been ordered, 10 of them will show up, they'll cost as much as 20, and none of them eventually work. I realize I'm speaking as a layman here, but if figures like 20000 crores are being bandied about simply in relation to scams, what's the kind of money they actually have? And where the hell is it? And why isn't anyone asking? So much dust and noise is blown around by the scam itself, that the country seems to forget that there is now 20000 cr of black cash lying somewhere unaccounted for. Money that we, the people, had originally loaned to the government as part of our taxes, expecting it to safeguard and use our investment. Why shouldn't we demand it back? In some form?
That's what the strike should have been for.
Wherever you are, whatever you might be doing, you have suffered, and are suffering. For no reason. Thats what the strike should be for.
It's not about me, and why I haven't gotten juniors. Its not even about doctors and hospitals suffering as much as the patients. Its about our country and her people, and how we are being told to simply accept all the filth that is brought before us, and go through it all, simply because 'what else can you do?'. I think its time the country went on strike.
3 comments:
i did like your point of view... !!! very few docs in govt setup think of the cost of equipment bcoz it doesnt come from their pocket :)
very maturely analysed and thought provokingly written...one can write a 10 page essay on the govt and the party its hving at the cost of us,truth is no one has the time,will power to change that,,isleye more than 50yrs since independence ans 20 years since our economic boom,,more than 75pc of our population is still living the pre-independence life.....
Post a Comment