Dr Gopichand.
From Joint Desk of THiNK~HANGER & Score&MORE.
“July 1. National Doctors Day. Justice & Justification for Bharat Ratna Dr B C Roy Life & Works.!” A reflection of possibility to feasibility.
Hello all,
Just while we are all at it how many of us ( how many doctors amongst us ) know that BC Roy is a Bharat Ratna Awardee? How many can expand what B C in his name stand for?
Let’s dive deep, now:
As much as recognising the life & works of Bharat Ratna Awardee Dr B C Roy, I’d feel that an appreciation as Nationap Doctors Day July 1 ( Birth as well as Death Day being same ) is undermining of his contributions.
A Life of 80 years, with becoming a doctor & putting clinics & nursing places, educationist setting institutions, planner putting up areas which turn into colonies / towns, curating admin ( as Mayor of Kolkata to Premier of West Bengal before & around Aug 1947 as CM of W Bengal till 1962 ) paints a vast persona on canvas of transitioning India. Bharat Ratna in 1961 is just a mark of it all.
Printing a stamp, building busts & statues, putting up an Award in his name and establishing a Memorial in Capital indicate the range of themes he has touched and impacted. Medicine is and one part of it.
The more we call July 1 as National Doctors Day acknowledging his Birth Day, the more we restrict his LIFE in to one domain.
Only consolation, if any, is to remind to rest of all Medical Fraternity that a Doctor is not just a person with evaluation stethoscope 🩺 and life saving Knife 🔪, and that Societal Expectations are for such to be more. Be Doctor & Be More.
Policy making isn’t about moving towards Health Policy and Medical Insurance themes. Admin isn’t about becoming a Brick in Politic looking towards Health Ministry at the most. It is about contributing in 360^ in various sectors taking along the Medical & Health aspects of members & admin.
More Doctors entering Civil Services, Admin, Politic, Enterprise ( including Medical and including Other than Medical ), Investing and Authoring is a welcome theme, in my view. True we have larger populace and are improving the Doctor : Population Quotient.
Medical Themes, Reg:
Rather than making problem travel to the solution area ( which includes patient, attendant and others to travel to far places where the logistics costs are more than the medical expenses ) we need to fundamentally transform the ‘Rx scape’ by ramping up the use of Digtial Technology and Improved Transport systems to take the solution to the point of problem. The ‘Poly clinics and Multi Speciality Hospitals’ were the late 20th Century medical models of efficiency and we need to move into Digital Clinics and Integrated Hospitals as 21st Centrury Medical Offerings. Also, we need to build horizontal Bridges of interactions and integration of related specialties with allied knowledge domains ( aka Rationalisation ) for improving Results and Enhancing Patient Satisfaction. We also need to include ‘Attendant’ as a critical theme in Medical Education to Medical Practice Scenarios ( at the present moment, lip service is maximum given to this aspect ). Med Tech Integration is both an advancement for treatment as well as Empathy & HR challenge for Medical Personnel. Enough about Medical themes.
Trends, reg:
Med Tech, Medical Management, Preventive Health Care, Personalised & Customised Medicine, Adult Vaccination, Travel & Sports Medicine, Inflammation Medicine, Growth Clinics, Geriatrics to Family Medicine and ( in post covid new era ) Community Medicine are needy areas just while Organ & System Soecialities are becoming even more deep yet narrow focused. Cognitive Research and Implants of various sorts are presenting newest scenarios for Doctors as well as Medical Academics. ( The Regular Super Specialities are becoming further segmented as a Natural Evolve. I’m not mentioning much about this, here, in this article. )
Doctors in Other Spaces, Reg:
We have had doctors in admin, politic and medical enterprises. Yes. Dr BC Roy offers another example of “&MORE”. Being in one chamber in a city yet, there is no other character on society who gets to meet the entire spectrum of society over time. Watchman to Collector, Peon to Minister, Businessman to Academician, Civil Peasant to a growing child, resident to passing traveller - a Doctor gets to meet a range of societal spectrum AND not all of these speak only about Medical themes. A Doctor is an empathetic ear for these all. They share both the complaints as well as how their Life is disturbed because of medical issue. And any Medical issue which festers for a while becomes a family & social issue. It has emotional & economical bearings at micro ( personal ) to MACRO (Govt) level. The 360^ of Societal plane also enhances at doctors chambers because of general communication which happens in / at the chamber or bedside. Attendants chip in collateral and fall out issues. Put simply, a Doctor is someone well poised to possess a societal grasp ( while medical acumen gets better and better along ).
Society is underusing the Doctors in social spaces thus AND Modern era Doctors are restricting selves by caging themselves in Designation titles. Both Doctors as Persons and Society as People are losing much because of such.
If any,
Bharat Ratna Dr B C Roy’s Life Arc and Gamut of Works demonstrates that ‘Doctors are Doctors & MORE.’ We need to work at this at individual, institution, admin & Govt Level to make best use of the Possibility. Just like Many Members from Legal Fraternity over a time entire a wide range of social themes, similarly so Doctors Fraternity needs to expand beyond Prescription Letter to Societal Blank Paper too.
If both these points : 1) Evolve of Medical Possibilities Front as Medical Syllabus for Medicos and 2) Expanse of Other Social Needs as Life Syllabus for Doctors are considered for New Feasibilities - then, and only then - Dr B C Roy’s Birthday July 1 as ‘National Doctors Day’ would be a fitting tribute to his Life & Works.
Inviting views / comments / critique.
Dr Gopichand
Doctor, Entrepreneur, Traveller & Connoisseur.
