das@orstcs.UUCP (das) (03/25/86)
>Subject: American Medico's experience in India (LONG!) > > > Following is the reproduction of an article published in the April 1986 > issue of DISCOVER magazine .It is authored by Ms Perri Class ,a fourth > year medical student at Harvard Medical School.She has described her > impressions and reactions to a stint of medical training in an alien > land (in India). >----------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > The people look different.The examining room is crowded with >children and their parents,gathered hopefully around the doctor's >.... I found the previous article very, very interesting because I had a similar experience when I was at college in India. Being used to medical benefits by default of my father's job, I never really knew what it is like to fall sick in rural India. It so happened that one of my friends needed serious medical treatment and having nobody to subsidise the costs, I took him to a government hospital. After entering the hospital and looking around the place I asked the doctor if my friend is going to come out alive. He laughed and said that people come here from far away villages, with very little money, and they take the free medicine that the hospital provides and still go back healthy, your friend is in great shape (he was right!). Since there was nobody to look after my friend, I (helped by a few others) decided to take it up as a full time (unpaid) job to spend sleepless nights in the hospital. It was during that time that I got to talk to people from remote villages, other patients, their friends, doctors, interns, nurses, and it was only then that I learned where India really lives, how ever much one prefers to glorify Indian cities, India lives (and dies) in it's villages. Basically we don't need doctors from Harvard or Boston or anywhere else. What we really need is somebody who is ready to take up challenges, be less money minded, and a certain degree of self sacrifice. There are some states in India where graduating medics should serve a minimum of 3 years in rural locations before taking up any other job. Certain Government hospitals require it's doctors to serve certain days of every week in rural areas. Then there are voluntary health services where flourishing professionals work almost free in a government facility (certain days in a month) so that people may get access to some of the best medical talent. I am not saying that the system is perfect, there are many loopholes and problems, but I cannot imagine something like here in USA being tried out in India, I don't even want to think about it! ----- das@orstcs ...!hp-pcd!orstcs!das