THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: While professor Abraham Joseph Padinjattidom was visiting a patient at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, he saw a man in civilian clothes approaching them. He asked the latter if he was a doctor. “Do you think a farmer will approach you (if not a doctor)?” pat came the answer. The professor was alarmed at the attitude and wondered how doctors could be identified from among the hundreds that throng the hospital in civilian clothes.
A lack of etiquette on the part of a few doctors in the Medical College Hospital is an issue that has been raised several times. P Raju, a social activist working closely with causes related to the hospital, said: “All doctors must wear identity tags. Hundreds come to the hospital to seek treatment. They should be able to identify doctors.”
Doctors maintain that decorum is necessary, especially when related to identity. “I do not hold the opinion that doctors lack etiquette. But the doctor in question should not have made such a statement. Secondly, identifying oneself as a doctor is important when everyone around are in civilian clothes. The Directorate of Medical Education had issued a circular stating that all doctors must compulsorily wear their identity tags on which their names are clearly visible,” said Dr Ajith Prasad JS, a faculty with the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College and the state president of Kerala Government Post Graduate Medical Teachers Association. “From this year onward, the medical syllabus has an ‘Etiquette and Patient Communication’ module. In foreign countries, students must pass the module to move further in their medical education. In the absence of such academic training, students tend to learn from the teachers they consider role models,” he said.
However, he disagrees with the use of overcoats. “Recent literature points out that the coats carry microorganisms. Thus, even foreign countries are discarding coats. Also, it is not a viable solution in our climate,” he said.
However, health expert Dr B Iqbal said, “The incident mentioned could be an isolated one. Now, young doctors are more conscious of the patient-doctor relationship. They are also enthusiastic and hardworking.”