Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity,” said Hippocrates (450-380 BC), the Greek physician and philosopher who is known as the father of modern medicine. Over three centuries later, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC), Roman poet, philosopher, rhetorician and humorist, said, “In nothing do men (and women) more nearly approach the gods than in giving health to men (and women).”
Over ages, doctors, ‘vaidyas’ and ‘hakeems’ have commanded the respect and love of people for their life-saving abilities and consultations. But things have changed for the worse now. A doctor’s service is being viewed more in commercial terms, that what is expected must be delivered – an extremely difficult expectation to meet in the medical profession, considering that doctors and the medical staff are commonly faced with situations wherein patients are expected to be brought back from the jaws of death. And if they fail, they are blamed – even assaulted – for negligence or lack of diligence.
It has been common for people to view doctors as ‘gods’. But the fact is that they are just as human as the patients they are treating, or whose lives they are trying to save. The ‘gods’ have to prepare for it, and it takes years and a lot of money. The MBBS (Undergraduate Medical Degree) course typically takes five-and-a-half years, including the mandatory 1-year of internship, preparing students for the responsibilities of the medical profession. Post MBBS specialisation like Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Master of Surgery (MS) typically take three years to complete, but can take longer depending on the student’s dedication and calibre. Super-specialisation courses can take another two years.
Nursing courses can take between 12 weeks and four years to complete, depending on whether it is the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training (12–18 weeks) or Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSc Nursing) (a four-year undergraduate programme), combining theory and practice in healthcare settings, aiming at developing knowledge, experience and critical thinking skills.
Only on completing the gruelling years do doctors and nurses ‘qualify’ to be considered ‘gods’ by the ‘mortals’. And yet, if they fail, they face the sticks and brickbats, while bouquets are becoming rare these days.
Not surprising, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) reported that 75% of the doctors face physical or verbal abuse in hospitals, and up to 43% live in fear of being targeted by violence, causing immense stress while on duty, clocking a whopping 120 hours per week (Was Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy inspired by them while prescribing 70-hour-weeks to IT professionals?).
The gory rape-and-murder of a young lady doctor in R.G. Kar Medical College in Kolkata a few days ago has brought the issue of ensuring safety of medical professionals to the fore. Although the motive behind that crime is different from those behind the general cases of assault and abuse on doctors, it has nevertheless turned into a nationwide call – and a shrill one – to put in place a formidable system to ensure safety of medical professionals.
The Karnataka government has set up a task force comprising top health officials and representatives from hospitals and professional bodies to firm up safety measures for medical professionals to deter violence against them.
On August 20, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao met with representatives of the Karnataka chapter of IMA, Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA), hospitals and medical colleges and 12 associations of medical specialists. The suggestions from the representatives included educating the public about laws that protect medical professionals and displaying relevant penal provisions of state legislation at the health centres; installing CCTV cameras in hospitals, deploying additional security personnel, and having regular police patrols; wristbands with panic buttons to be provided to the hospital staff; conducting regular safety inspections with the police in the hospitals; fast-tracking pending cases involving assaults on doctors; and offering training programmes for women staff on handling volatile situations. The suggestions are being assessed by the task force, which is expected to submit a report before September 20.
The recent legislature session also passed the Karnataka Medical Registration and Certain Other Law (Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Governor has accorded assent to it. It states that any intentional insult to healthcare service personnel would be punished with imprisonment for a period of not less than three years, which may extend up to seven years. It also includes fines ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 2 lakh.
However, while the state is in the process of strengthening safety measures for the health professionals, the bigger challenge will be to change the public mindset. Awareness has to be spread among the public while raising empathy towards doctors and nurses, by understanding and accepting that they are not ‘gods’, but humans trained in a profession of saving lives. Even among the doctors, empathy needs to prevail while serving the patients. Empathy and understanding need to be mutual among doctors and patients and their families. Only then perhaps the stoic philosopher and statesman of ancient Rome, Lucius Annaeus Seneca’s words would ring true again: that people pay doctors for their troubles and services, but for their kindness, they will remain in their debts.
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