Sach : Season - 3 | EP -1 | The Subhash Chandra Show | ವೈದ್ಯಕೀಯ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣದ ಮಹತ್ವವೇನು..?

Thank you, thank you very much. Thank you, thank you very much. So I am going to today learn a lot from all of you, and that's the reason I am here and I do this show because I always want to be feeling that I am a learner, I am a student all the time. When I was 17 years old, the generation that is my fourth generation in the family took over work. I was 17 years old. I won't tell you my age because I think age is just a number. And someone asked a question yesterday, so my answer was that I think mentally I am still the same 17 years old when I started my business. So this is a subject related to your subject, and I think that if a person keeps himself well and keeps an open mind and positivity, then he does not age mentally. The body may age. What do you expect from today's session? What do you expect? Would anyone like to say something?

Thank you. Our purpose is the same. I would like to know how many of you believe this: I believe that medicine is not the science of diagnostic and treatment. It is the practice of stewardship of human life as they move through the times. As human beings move through time, diagnostic and treatment are only part of the work, they are not the end work. So do you agree with that? How many of you are medical students? Can you please raise hands? Oh wow, most of you are medical students. So may I ask you a question? When a patient comes to you for treatment, what do you call them? Patient? What do you call them? Patient means a sufferer. The root word meaning is the one who suffers. And when it comes, so as a doctor it's our duty to end the suffering and more than that to also make their life such that they don't suffer later on with it. So that is the root word from which the word patient has derived. Okay, that's very good. Thank you.

Normally what I have heard that it's termed as a case. A case has come of such and such problem and illness because the hospital also when they bill they bill a case. I am treating a case of pneumonia and I am treating a case of hypertension. How many of you agree that we call it a case? Will you raise hands? Would you like to speak something about it?

Now let me ask you another question. When you joined the medical studies, what did you think medicine was and what the medical science is about and what will you do after completing the studies? When you came, when you joined the medical school, you must have thought something in your mind. Must have thought that medicine is the science of finding out what is wrong with a sick person as he said and then making them better. Diagnosis and treatment. Both one and two: find the problem, fix the problem. Isn't that a doctor? And when you started your classes you started learning anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pathology, pharmacology. All were being taught, isn't it? And the things are being taught to you in greater details how the body works, how it breaks, how to recognize it breaks, how to repair them.

I hope Narayan when you go to real life you will continue to care about the patients because I have seen in some hospitals the everything is there, medicine is there, everything is there but the care is missing. Or anyone else wants to explain something?

Thank you. Patients are treated as a subject, as a case. Even the billing in the hospital is done on a case basis. Insurance is treated as a case basis. If some case goes into the courts, courts also take it as a case instead of a human being which has got a journey of a lifetime. It's very seldom we see the doctors and nurses sing and spending some time and trying to take knowledge from the patient that what is his and her life, how did they land into difficulty, what are they going on in their minds. So things of that kind. Yes, anyone else wants to say?

Very good, very good. I remember what you have said. I remember very clearly I have seen lots and lots of people. The patient is not treated properly with proper medication because the doctors did not go through their past history. They have not seen their details of before they came to the hospital. How and what happened to them? When did it happen? When did the problem start? And like today, many of you are shy to speak on the camera and on the mic. Patients are generally also not very open to tell their whole story. Because the way doctors ask, the way doctors treat them, when asking is also an art that also probably needs to be learned by the definitely by nurses as well as the doctors. 'What happened, brother?' If you ask such a question to the patient, the patient already becomes defensive. And in another way, a doctor says, 'Yes brother, what is your name? Okay, where have you come from? Who is in the family? How did this problem happen?' And then you ask, 'Since when did it start?' He will open up. The patient will open up. Will tell his and her story properly. He will be on your same wavelength with the doctor. And then the treatment would be good, if the attendants and the nurse also say, 'Oh uncle, you are in great. How did this happen? It's very difficult.' As soon as she says that, that patient becomes half more ill. So I will straightaway invite Dr. Satyendra Singh who is here as a guest on this show.

How can you sharpen skills? That's why linking with visual arts. Visual arts teaches you how to look at an art from the periphery or center. And it tells you about the cues. Ask a doctor. How many people think that communication skills will begin with visual arts?

A very, very valid question, thank you for that. In the medical system, there is a term called 'detached empathy'. So we expect that our healers – doctors, nurses, and physiotherapists – need to be compassionate and need to understand and demonstrate empathy also. But many times you should not focus too much on that. That's why we say we need to be a little bit detached while showing empathy. Because ultimately it also has effects on your psyche as well. And you will keep on seeing this suffering everywhere in your hospital. But the patient has come to the hospital to you to get relief from these sufferings. And that's why it's important that you are in your senses to make those decisions which would help that particular person and the patient to get rid of his or her own sufferings.

One basic difference between private and public hospitals: we often see that in government hospital emergencies, the residents working there unfortunately face incidents of violence on healthcare professionals. The reason is improper triage. Beating of doctors is common, specifically in government hospital emergencies because the emergency atmosphere is very charged emotionally. Doctors work continuously for 12, 16, even 36 hours, and many times cannot sort out which patient is how serious. It is the prerogative of the doctor to decide whom to see first, because resources are limited – number of beds is limited. You need to decide which patient gets that limited bed. Would you admit an 18-year-old youth or a 90-year-old elderly person who arrived simultaneously? You have only one bed. Some might think based on history whom to take: 18-year-old or 90-year-old? 18-year-old. Why? Because you all are 18, 20, 25. (Laughter)

Okay, I ask you another question. The 18-year-old youth who came to the hospital – you saw his blood sample, it has a high level of alcohol intoxication. He has a tattoo indicating he went to a pub at night and was brought from there. He was involved in a road traffic accident and was driving while intoxicated. And the other 90-year-old elderly person, very old, but he turns out to be a freedom fighter. Would your decision change? (Laughter) So that's an ethical question.

And yes. In our field, we need care, responsibility, patience, everything. But then it happens that we treat the medical field as just treating the disease, not treating the person. But I think the medical field is all about treating the person also.

Very good, very well said. Absolutely, because this is an important point: our medical curriculum earlier was largely disease-focused. The whole function of medicine was to fix the patient. Now we talk about person-centered care. We do not focus too much on science and symptoms – yes they are important – but behind them there is a living human being, and you are caring for that. Symptoms are secondary.

Dr. Singh, I want to ask you: when you had this disability at 9 months of age, how did you gather courage and study MBBS? Did you face any hindrance due to this disability?

But Doctor sahab, we talked to some people about you. Some say you are a very big legal litigant doctor and you fight a lot. So those who may not be happy with you say this.

In today's era, there is too much noise about artificial intelligence. I hear many people say AI will enhance life. Across the world, on WhatsApp and TV, the big story is that longevity will increase – people will live 150 years. A Marwari friend told me last year, 'Subhash, we just have to live 101 more years, after that technology won't let us die.' That's what people think. What do you think?

Absolutely. But AI cannot treat an illness. That is at least my conclusion.

There is something even medicine cannot do. I come from a different profession – sales and marketing. I recently read a line: if I show kindness towards someone, the person showing kindness, the one receiving it, and the one observing, all three are healed. We also work with waves and aura energy. When you are in a certain aura, you heal. So are we moving towards a non-medicine era? Surgery cannot be replaced, but healing – will we have a device that heals just by listening to it? That is my question.

As a student of Vipassana meditation, I have learned, practiced, and experienced that sending good vibrations is now accepted by science. I can send you good wishes, and they will reach you. With this, can healing of ailments be possible? I have my doubts, but at the same time, stress and tension can be reduced, and stress-related ailments like high blood pressure and diabetes can be managed. Lifestyle diseases can also be cured. But as Lord Buddha said: among the 500 people here, probably not one would say they have no suffering. Every human has some suffering – a cut finger, financial difficulty, fees to pay. He divided suffering into five parts: birth, aging, ailment, losing a loved one, getting what you want and what you don't want. There is hardly any complete solution for suffering. Do you agree? Anyone who disagrees, would you like to say something?

Ultimately, what I would like to say to all of you and my viewers at home is that there are times even a doctor who is called God for a patient, when they are not able to treat you, it is not their fault. I request that if you ever have to go to the hospital, treat doctors, medical professionals, and nurses with respect. Have empathy towards them. Do not ill-treat them. This is my prayer. Thank you very much for having me today. Thank you.