Noble profession ignoble people!
By: Mushtaq Hurra
Doctors in every society are held in high reverence and esteem. The tagline “Next to God ” suits them as their interventions ensure healthy and disease free life. So much so that sometimes several lives are saved by the professional of medicine. Their selfless and untiring services have won them huge respect and admiration. They are considered angelic and there is no service parallel to theirs, though teaching is considered to be the mother of all the services, and medicine is undoubtedly one of the very few sectors that are so highly revered.
I believe that the cream of every society wishes to enter the profession for its unique and unprecedented status among all the professions. And our valley is no exception to it. There is a craze and a passion among our young people for this profession and it is still the first choice of every student of our valley. Even parents try their best to persuade their wards to opt this career. Many parents force their children to study medicine for its great future prospects and the dignity doctors enjoy. Though many new career options have become very popular but medicine is still the first choice for a large chunk of students. Our young people still consider it as a dream coming true if they manage to get admission in any prestigious medical institution of the country or abroad.
World has produced many legendary medicos who will be remembered for their expertise and dedication. From Hippocrates to Abu Ali Sina, human history is witness to the fact that doctors have been doing a great service to the mankind which can’t be ignored or neglected. Had there been no doctors in the world, the world would have been very dull and diseased.
Our own valley has the distinction to have produced some world class and renowned doctors. Though the list will consume many pages but it would be unjust and unfair not to mention the names of some legendary medicos of our valley like Dr. Ali John and Mohammad Sultan Khuroo. Our doctors have earned a reputation and a prominence in the medical world. Their enormous contribution is hailed by one and all. Our premier institutions like SKIMS Soura, SMHS, Lala Ded etc are the backbone of our health sector and we are blessed to have honest, dedicated and hard-working doctors in these institutions to serve our people. We are always grateful to them and we, as a nation, owe a lot to them.
We acknowledge their handwork they put in to earn a seat in medical institutions. They burn their midnight oil and sacrifice their aspirations for a greater cause. Besides their hard toiling efforts, they are blessed with a caliber and mettle to be our doctors.
Had it been only this, there would have been peace and tranquility but, there is the other face of the coin. And the fact is that this other face is very ugly and bleak. Last many years have witnessed a decline and the gap is widening between patient and doctor while this sacred relationship has begun to deteriorate. Bankruptcy and corruption has sneaked into this sacred profession and plagued it from within. Many medicos have turned brokers of pharmaceutical companies to earn hefty bucks, perks and privileges from them.
Drug mafia is growing at an alarming rate in our state. Spurious and substandard drugs have halted the progress of our health sector. And ironically; many doctors are the culprits who prescribe these spurious drugs for a few perks. Here, it is not only the illegitimate and bankrupt behavior of doctors but it is the breach of a sacred and strong trust which binds a patient and a doctor. A patient visits a doctor with the hope to get his/her miseries ended. Though we have not seen the God but a doctor is not lesser than a Good for a hopeless patient. When this hope is crushed and trampled, when poison is infused instead of antidote in the form of spurious drugs, then the sacred profession turns dirty and satanic. I wonder ! how can a doctor sell his conscience for a few pennies?
This is not the end of the story. Doctors are supposed to be patient listeners and sweet speakers but doctors are no more gentle and virtuous now albeit exceptions. Many doctors taunt and reprimand patients for speaking their plight. Patient-doctor scuffles are growing and the latter is not held in the same reverence, it used to enjoy earlier.
Negligence in patient care is another snag which has consumed many precious lives. Though most of our doctors are dedicated but the menace is growing. Criminal cases stand registered against many doctors for their alleged negligence in patient care. Sacrificing their comforts and sleeps for others give them the appellation of “next to God” otherwise they too are human beings like others.
Morals and ethics are considered to be the backbone of a profession and professionals. Moral uprightness is very essential for a doctor to deliver the things in a desired way. We have examples where doctors have been found involved in kidney selling rackets and other indecent acts.
Mal-administration in our hospitals, particularly in our tertiary care hospitals, is sure to hit the standards of our health sector. We need honest and God fearing people to head these institutions for a better service to our poor masses who could not afford expensive private Medicare services.
Let us hope that those who have managed to enter this noble profession without possessing the required qualities, are identified and shown exit, to make this profession the noblest as it used to be. I am glad to see the scandalous Mushtaq peer behind the bars and his disciples out from our sacred medical college. I pray that our state and national level public service commissions are headed by honest people so that only best among the best are chosen for the sacred duty.
I wish all the good luck, good health and best wishes to our dedicated and honest doctors .You people are the crown of our society, and we don’t treat you lesser than angels.
The writer is a teacher and can be reached at [email protected]
