14 Face to face with a genuine Doctor

 (Introduction: I believe the profession of a doctor is the most noble one in the world. He is the only one who can reduce the pain of a patient by medicine or his kind words or even with a pat on the shoulders of an ailing patient. But, it is very sad to note not many of the present generation of doctors try to be at least kind to their patients. The number of such kind doctors has become very small these days, unfortunately. If money is the problem, I have seen patients really paying well to a good doctor without asking for it)

Scene 1: Period 1955-56

One uncle of mine had real difficulty in breathing and was admitted to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College for a  detailed  check-up. After examination by a group of doctors, it was concluded that he had some major problem with one of his heart valves and a surgery is the best way to relieve him of the ailment and prolong his life. Remember at that time, no diagnostic techniques such as angiogram or doppler or any other was available at that time. Physicians had to diagnose based on their gut feeling and experience. A major open-heart surgery was suggested and a team of doctors decided to go ahead with the surgery. With the available facilities   at that time, the surgeons and physicians together did a splendid job with the procedure taking more than 10 hours. Uncle was discharged after two weeks and his problems were gone at least for the time being. Only a long scar which was almost running to the full length of the periphery of his chest was the only one remaining. He could  continue his normal life  for more than 15 years.

Scene 2: 1970-71:

The chief physician who diagnosed and treated my uncle, Dr T.D.Gopalakrishna Pillai  was the Head of the Department Medicine in Calicut Medical College. Uncle had some problems especially frequent hiccups which was  a bit troublesome and some local doctors suggested  it is better to consult  one of the physicians who treated him earlier. When he came to know that I was working in Calicut, he decided to come over and see Dr.Pillai. He came to REC Campus alone one evening all on a sudden without any notice. In Calicut, then and now also, if you want to get an appointment of a good doctor, booking has to be done at least two weeks before. Moreover,  uncle did not have any old papers about his treatment with him. Since I was also new Calicut, I did not know how to get an appointment from this very senior doctor. On enquiry, I could understand that Dr.Pillai did not see patients at home and with  the big crowd waiting in the outpatient block, it was not easy to get his consultation directly. Uncle was   in a hurry and wanted to get back home in a day or two as he has to take care of the farming as it was the season. I made some unofficial enquiry with the supporting staff in the Medicine department and described our difficulty. One of them felt pity on us and suggested the only way to get the doctor to see him is to wait in front of his  office   around 755 AM  and if the  doctor recognises the patient, he will definitely see him. Anyway, we decided to try our luck on the next day.

Scene  3 :Next day  morning at Calicut Medical College

So, next day   morning, we started early from REC and was  standing in front of his  office in the  Medicine  department  by 730AM itself. At around 750 AM, we saw Dr.Pillai walking down the corridor facing us. As he was almost 50 meters near us, he saw my uncle from the distance and approached  him rapidly and catching hold of his shoulders   he asked “ How  are you Kaimal, are you still in good shape?”. He was so happy to see his old patient whom he treated almost 15 years back. He    took him to his room and started enquiring about his troubles. After hearing him, Dr.Pillai said, it is ok, we will set your hiccups  alright.  He called the peon and asked him to bring O P ticket and asked him to be admitted for a week in the medicine ward. He wanted to show this case to his students, one of his early successes in his medical career. Uncle was given special diet with milk, eggs and fried liver in spite of his insistence to go back home in a day or two. Naturally, uncle could not go against the words of the doctor who gave him a new life. Incidentally, my uncle being a pure vegetarian, he used to keep all these nonvegetarian items for my child till evening and hand it over to me when I visited him.

Dr.Pillai  knew that his ailment was not serious, but  he wanted to demonstrate  this case  to his students  during the  next few days,  with pride as one his very successful  treatment cases early in his career. He had only a few more years to superannuate, but see how he remembered everything about a patient whom he met so many years back after meeting thousands of patients thereafter. Are these doctors real gems of the profession? Are they not real incarnations of God almighty, who keep the glorious traditions of the sacred profession aloft? Obviously they belong  to different  species, not like the majority of the present day  doctors who take commission from pharma  companies and manage costly gifts and visits abroad in Paris or New York at their expense and ask for  a CT or MRI scan  when these expensive diagnostic techniques are  not  essential,  but get it done just to satisfy his boss who pays him a hefty salary.(Apology to the  minority  of doctors, young and old, still  doing a sincere and creditable  job, especially in the Government  Medical Colleges and other Health Centres under the Government in spite of the thousands  of patients  they have to attend day in day out.)