"Will you please advise me?" A patient asked me in my outpatient clinic. " I want to undergo a test-tube-baby procedure."
"Please show me your case paper" I said. She produced her case paper from her bag. I looked at it.
"You are registered with Dr. XXXXX, whose outpatient clinic is on WWWWWWday. That doctor will be able to answer all your questions. Medical ethics does not permit me to see another doctor's patients."
"But I want your advice" she said. Then she had a new thought. "You are Dr. Parulekar, are you not?"
"Yes I am" I said. "But why do you want my advice?"
"The senior doctor of my unit does not talk to us. Only the trainee doctors speak to us. I think I am not getting the right treatment. I was sitting in a queue for undergoing ultrasonography. I got talking to the woman next to me and told her about my woes. She said I should see you, that you were nice and would give me proper advice."
No one had said this to me directly in my life. I looked at her face closely. She did not seem to be indulging in false flattery. I thought back quickly on my clinical practices and realized that I did talk to all patients irrespective of whether they were sent by important people or not.
"OK. If you make my unit's case paper, I will see you. India is a free country and patients can change doctors if they so wish. We do not do test-tube-babies, but I will check out your test results and give you advice."
She thanked me and went away happy.
I want to believe she was innocent and told me the truth rather than get what she wanted from me by flattering me. Come to think of it, she must have genuinely wanted my advice, because there was no other apparent reason for her to say what she did.
I understood today that this was job satisfaction as much as doing a complex or innovative operation.
"Please show me your case paper" I said. She produced her case paper from her bag. I looked at it.
"You are registered with Dr. XXXXX, whose outpatient clinic is on WWWWWWday. That doctor will be able to answer all your questions. Medical ethics does not permit me to see another doctor's patients."
"But I want your advice" she said. Then she had a new thought. "You are Dr. Parulekar, are you not?"
"Yes I am" I said. "But why do you want my advice?"
"The senior doctor of my unit does not talk to us. Only the trainee doctors speak to us. I think I am not getting the right treatment. I was sitting in a queue for undergoing ultrasonography. I got talking to the woman next to me and told her about my woes. She said I should see you, that you were nice and would give me proper advice."
No one had said this to me directly in my life. I looked at her face closely. She did not seem to be indulging in false flattery. I thought back quickly on my clinical practices and realized that I did talk to all patients irrespective of whether they were sent by important people or not.
"OK. If you make my unit's case paper, I will see you. India is a free country and patients can change doctors if they so wish. We do not do test-tube-babies, but I will check out your test results and give you advice."
She thanked me and went away happy.
I want to believe she was innocent and told me the truth rather than get what she wanted from me by flattering me. Come to think of it, she must have genuinely wanted my advice, because there was no other apparent reason for her to say what she did.
I understood today that this was job satisfaction as much as doing a complex or innovative operation.
