I am working and studying in a national institute. It is where professional services are given to people who are in need of it.In the professional sphere, we are expected to all behave "professionally' and responsibly, and "do no harm" wherein, we all strive to work together in order for the benefit of the patient. Sure, the medical trainee is someone who does have more responsibility, in the sense that is how the law works; they are the ones who are called upon to actually give evidence in a court of law.They are the ones who are on call, and are the ones who are called in for any emergency. They are the ultimately responsible, and therefore answerable for the patient's welfare. They are the ones who make decisions about the specific medications that are to be provided to the patient, and the kind of treatment that is most appropriate given the person's history and current complaints. Medical doctors do have a tremendous amount of responsibility on them, and most of them strive to the best of their abilities in order to serve the patient the best way they can. I have the utmost respect for doctors who practice responsibly, and i salute people who have the courage to take up the profession.
However, on the other side of the coin, there are other professions in the world, and i do believe in the dignity of labour. There are other professionals as well who practice, and do their best to make a difference in people's lives. Whether it is a lawyer, or a teacher, everyone makes their efforts in order to earn their living, and at the same time most people attempt to have a meaningful existence. While I can't really comment on their professional lives,i think i can talk a little bit about people who are in the health services, but are not medical doctors. many a times, doctors find that other methods of treatment could augment the medication regime that they prescribe their patients. e.g. psychologists, social workers, physio therapists, occupational therapists, the list could go on. The point is that these people all work as hard to improve the patient's condition, putting in time and effort to better their functioning, investing their own skills in order to help a person who is in need. They may not be able to see as many patients as doctors, considering that the kinds of efforts they need to put in are of a different kind, and may involve working with the patient for a longer duration of time, yet the work that they put in is not negligible.
What is my point with all of this? The thoughts i have put down seem well evident, and do not need reiteration. Yet why am i doing so? The reason being that many a times, the role that these other professionals play seems to become secondary to the medical doctors. Sure, they have given the medication, or provided the medical attention necessary for the person to not have that particular symptom any longer. Yet when that is over, in order for the person to resume their lives again, the patient may need the help of these other professionals, and in fact, they may be the first line of treatment. Well, this might not seem to be a big deal, in the sense that, the person ultimately is helped! that's the primary aim of any professional. However, the reason I am writing this is that once that demarcation becomes institutionalized, then it does call for some concern. That is the stage, when many other forms of discrimination take place. That is when it becomes difficult to isolate the actual issue, and instead it is the profession that the person belongs to which gets attacked. Now ultimately, the idea is that everyone functions as part of a team. When the difference between the various professions keeps getting emphasized in interactions, whether it be at the junior level, or more importantly, at the decision making level, it leads to a bad working environment.I am saying this, because i can see how the emphasis on the difference between medical doctors and others is creating a situation wherein there is mutual dislike between the two groups. The creation of a clear in-group and out-group definitely would lead to conflict, as many of the classic social psychology experiments have shown us.
What is the answer to it then? I really do not now. When a decision has been taken at a policy level, it is very hard for those who are at the receiving end of the policy to feel the same way about the other group, especially when the out group is the majority, and has no difficulties with the policies, simply because it does not affect them. I really do not know the solution to it, because i think in spite of having an awareness of the situation being engendered by the institute, i do not know how that awareness will help me.
