For Future Doctors: What is the Dark side of being a doctor?……………It is about the time of the year when you see a sudden surge in my blog visits. It happens every year after the SPM results are announced. Once again I will get emails and comments asking me all sort of questions which has been answered many times before. I have written countless number of […]
It is about the time of the year when you see a sudden surge in my blog visits. It happens every year after the SPM results are announced. Once again I will get emails and comments asking me all sort of questions which has been answered many times before. I have written countless number of articles since 2010 in this blog which is still available for people to read. Somehow I feel, our current generation do not like to read much and wants quick and easy answers. I would blame the education system which never encourage students to read and explore the world. There are so many things happening in this world and the world is changing rapidly day by day. Our society is still living in cocoons.
Once again I would encourage everyone to buy and read my books before deciding whether to do medicine or not. You can see instruction to buy my books over HERE and I can still sell it at a special price of RM 85 per-set. Do not jump into medicine just because you got 9As, your parents & relatives said so or you think you are going to make big money etc. The number of doctors/graduates quitting medicine is increasing day by day all over the world. Only the toughest and those who got real passion and willing to sacrifice, will survive.
Many people believe that medicine is the only profession where you can help people. Frankly there are many people out there who are helping people more than doctors. At the end of the day, medicine is just a profession to earn a living. It is a service for a price! The society now perceives doctors as someone who is paid to provide service and not ” helping people”. Would you “help” and treat people if not paid? Not to mention the viral damaging remarks made against doctors and clinics being circulated in FB and Whatsapp! It is becoming a norm. The best part is , you as a doctor CANNOT reply to those comments as it is considered breach of patient confidentiality! You will be called up by MMC for disciplinary action. Many do not know that once a disciplinary action is taken by MMC, you will not be able to even apply for a job anywhere in this world even if your degree is recognised in that country. This is because, every medical council in the world will request for ” Certificate of Good Standing (CGS)” from the country where you are working currently. Once there is a disciplinary action taken, it will be listed in CGS. So, likely you will be disqualified from getting a job.
Not to forget doctors being assaulted in India and China! The video below shows how a doctor is being assaulted in India! It is becoming so rampant in India. It all started with commercialisation of medical education and medical business! The public now had lost trust on doctors. IN western countries, it is manslaughter charges as I had written in my last post.
Frankly, do patient really listen to you nowadays? Five out of 10 patients do not even bother to follow your instructions. They come to you with complications years later and expect you to cure them. No one bothers to take care of their health and most doctors nowadays are treating complication of life style habits. They insult you if you don’t give MC but can happily go shopping while smoking! I can write tons of examples but suffice to say that people just consider you as another person who is doing a job. Only the senior citizens in 60s and 70s seem to appreciate you nowadays. You see more older people thanking you than any young people. The young people just consider you a service provider for a fee ( I pay you, you do your job)!
What prompted the title of my article is a message that has been circulating in Facebook and WhatsApp. It is a well written piece but I got no idea who wrote it. Please see below:
WHAT IS THE DARK SIDE OF BEING A DOCTOR IN INDIA and ? MALAYSIA
“Loneliness”
Profound loneliness. You can be surrounded by friends, family and colleagues, but in reality, you are quite alone.
If your family does not consist of doctors, they hardly understand the difficulties that you go through. They sympathize with you, yet are unable to grasp the reality of your training and career. Why you must spend days and weeks and even years apart from them. Why a lot of their calls are unanswered by you, while you are busy during rounds or managing patients.
Your old school friends do not really understand how hard the years have been. Why you couldn’t attend all the weddings you were called to. Some just attribute it to arrogance. Some understand. Only a few are driven enough to maintain a relationship where you hardly meet, talk or hang out. Nobody realizes that you hardly have time for yourself, leave alone the closest of friends.
When you do meet your old buddies, from various different fields, you can feel a fence that has formed around you. You smile, and nod your head. Yet, you are some distance away. The conversations seem a bit trivial compared to what goes on everyday in your other life. It is like viewing the rerurn of a tv show you had loved at some point of time.
Your college friends don’t stay with you for too long. Forever branching and specializing fields of medicine mean everyone either ends up in a different college, City or country eventually. You do drop each other a message once in a while, especially if you can remember who it is that you are missing. Conversations do not progress beyond a few words, as both of you are busy beyond compare. Time and distances lighten the strongest of bonds.
Your partner/spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend understands your trials and tribulations with difficulty. A similar profession leads to conflict, ego struggles and comparisons. A different profession causes irritation and indignation at your personal priorities. You keep training and hardly find time for them.
Your patients may love you for your bedside manner and clinical acumen but neither do you form friendships nor expect any support in times of trouble. You keep a distance. Always. Proximity causes lack of objectivity. And, patients rarely come out in open support of their physician.
Your colleagues in the same branch view you as competition. So much so that they would be secretly relieved to see you fail. You colleagues in other branches form cordial, friendly relations. You meet once a year for joint conferences and sometimes discuss patients which have been referred. You can expect a bit of professional support but nothing emotional or personal.
The hospital you work in couldn’t care less about you. You are indispensable to them, until you are replaced.
Not all this is true for everyone in all scenarios, but, yes, you learn to live with this reality.
Add to this the constant fear of litigation, abuse, violence and disciplinary action.
It can get very lonely at the top for doctors sometimes. And the higher you go, the further away you are from everyone.
If this is not part of your story, being a doctor, you really are blessed.
Trust me, the article above is what most doctors go through in their life. At the end of the day, no patients will ever come to your defence if something happens to you. Do you see anyone coming to the defence of Dr Bawa Garba and Dr David Seelu in UK? None! Your own medical council will attack you in the name of public safety. That’s the life of a doctor. The untold story that I have been writing for the last 8 years. Only do medicine by knowing all these issues! If you think housemanship is torturing, wait till you see the real world of medicine.
I hope all SPM leavers would not just jump into medicine just because you got 9As. Read and learn to know the world and how it is changing. Do medicine only if you are willing to put up with all these struggles. If not, please do not waste your money and time.
May we make a right choice for GE14…………Â Â Â Â Â Have a blessed Good Friday……..
Source:
For Future Doctors: What is the Dark side of being a doctor?……………
