THE LOST HONOUR AND GLORY OF MEDICAL PROFESSION

Introduction

The medical profession used to be prestigious and honorable profession envied, loved and adored by people from all walks of life. In fact, it used to be the dream of all up-coming young brilliant chaps, precisely those science biased ones. A profession that was once extremely honoured with the position 

of Surgeon General. A third citizen in the hierarchy of national political power. This honour, respect and glory just suddenly disappeared into thin air. 

That loved profession at one time is now being neglected and left for those born with humility to study. There is this general saying that anything done with humility for the sake of humanity is called medicine.

That is why Non-governmental Organization like International Rescue Committee (IRC) assisting victim of wars, giving support and saving lives. The “Doctors without borders” are not left out of this humanitarian job and solidarity. So it’s logical to say that medicine is born out of humanity. I doubt if any society could be healthy and wealthy without healthcare providers. It is so disheartening and touching that a profession that was once a dream of all parents, so respected, wanted and highly adored by people from all works of life is now being hunted, dejected , hated, belittled and abandoned.

I doubt if any society could be healthy and wealthy without healthcare providers.

This ostentatious and godly like profession is a career full of discipline, medical regimentation and continuous searching of knowledge so to say these are the qualities required of a medical students in formation. They need to be extra discipline , committed and ready to sacrifice their sleep, leisure time to embark on this medical journey.

There is this popular quote by Khaled Hosseini which says:

“qualities you need to get through medical school and residency: Discipline. Patience. Perseverance. A willingness to forgo sleep. A penchant for sadomasochism. Ability to weather crises of faith and self-confidence. Accept exhaustion as fact of life. Addiction to caffeine a definite plus. Unfailing optimism that the end is in sight".

The Metamorphorsis of Medical profession

Let me take a little while to talk about what medicine actually entails as a profession. My professor used to tell me that medicine is “Art and Science”. The science is what you read and learn from text books while the Art is the skill and apt you learn by observing a master in that field as a kind of apprentice.

The medical training can be likening to a sailor who needs a navigational equipment and ship to sail to the sea. For a medical student the navigating equipment is his medical textbooks while the ship is the patient. Two of which moves harmoniously. After, the graduation, he is sworn in during induction as physician using the Hippocratic Oath. The induction is like taking an oath of office which without it, a doctor is not yet ripe to practice medicine. Rightfully after that, comes the internship. The internship is a training program to socialize the doctor to the society he is going to work in. He is being molded with good qualities like the following personalities: good manners, honesty, kindliness, tactfulness, reliability, sense of humour, sportsmanship and willing to help others in fact he becomes a servant leader so to say.

Internship is a training program to socialize the doctor to the society he is going to work in.

Importance of Health care service

The health care of the populace is so sacrosanct that the United Nation declared health a fundamental human right. This implies that the state has a responsibility for the health of its people. Serious minded national governments all over the world are striving to expand and improve their health care services. Of course, this can be achieved not only by building gigantic hospitals with state-of-the-art technologies all over the country but by improving the status of healthcare providers, constantly encouraging and motivating them.

Health care is a public right, and it is the responsibility of the government to provide this care to all citizens likewise the welfare of the healthcare providers who are the workers rendering this special service. These principles are well recognized by all countries in the world and enshrined in their respective constitutions.

If the health sector is so paramount and sacrosanct to our wellbeing and the healthcare providers too are the backbones of this holy sector, then why the maltreatment against the medical profession. A friend of mine once told me that the problem of a Doctor is a Doctor. The issue discussed above, has gone so bad that even among health workers they see themselves as rivals.

One believes that the other is an obstacle to his success. The rest of the healthcare providers see Doctors as number one enemy in the medical hierarchy. They create a strong union and a formidable force just to bring down the doctors. Meanwhile, it is often said that a tree does not make a forest. They are supposed to work together as a team to save lives and not to destroy it. This one time passionate crucial profession is now being considered the list on the scale of preference as career for younger ones.

Health care is a public right, and it is the responsibility of the government to provide this care to all citizens likewise the welfare of the healthcare providers who are the workers rendering this special service.

Conclusion

In the light of modernization where wealth counts, money is well respected than the professional qualifications. The like of footballers, musicians, artists and celebrities earning millions times far above the medical professions. Definitely, the youths would prefer football as a profession to medical profession. I am not antagonizing the fact of being stupendously rich regardless of your profession of which you have decided to choose. However, the medical profession is crucial to our existence and wellbeing. They say health is wealth. Hence, the government should replace this lost glory and honour of medical profession so that the youths can embrace it as a profession in the future.

I look forward to a day when I get older and I see multiple medical specialists in all nook and cranny attending to patients. And not a situation where I would need to be flown abroad due to lack of adequate healthcare providers. I rest my case.

REFERENCES
1. Personal working Experience at state specialist hospital Akure;Federal Medical Centre Owo.
2. Personal working Experience at Hospital de docencia Qualquin Albaran, Cuba.
3. K.Park (2007) “Park,s Textbook of Preventive And Social Medicine” Jabalpur India.

THE LOST HONOUR AND GLORY OF MEDICAL PROFESSION was written by our foremost Dr LB Basaru. You can follow him on Social media. 

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