What to do if you have doubts about the treatment given by your doctor?

Having a doctor in the family is probably the most significant matter of pride in an ordinary Malayali family. Teenagers from these families toil hard for five years, then complete their post-graduation and offer their services in remote rural areas at the beginning of their careers. By this time, they would be ready to work in challenging situations and learn to respond calmly even in chaos. However, the society that mistakes this calmness for weakness often takes the law into its hands and physically assaults the doctors if they are not happy with the outcome of the treatment.

Day in the life of a doctor
A typical day for a house surgeon or a PG student begins with early-morning rounds in the wards, meeting patients and noting their vitals. First, they meet the patients on their own before accompanying the senior doctors for another ‘rounds’ during which they discuss each patient's condition in detail. After roaming around the entire hospital multiple times, most of them do not have time even to have breakfast as they have to prepare discharge summaries, check patients in the casual ward before admitting them, see patients at the OP for hours, or assist the senior doctors in surgeries. Meanwhile, they will also have to work the night shifts without an off day. Holidays, meals at the proper time, and entertainment are absent from these young doctors’ lives. 

The most challenging duty
Breaking the news of a patient’s death to their relatives was the most challenging part when I was a medical student. If it is a child or someone who has died suddenly and unexpectedly, then the response of the relatives may be different compared to the relatives of a terminally ill patient. However, now, more than an emotional outburst, people often resort to violence and attack the doctor who breaks the news or shares the health updates. 

A doctor can only diagnose the disease correctly and prescribe timely treatment. Medical science is a field where research is constantly happening. Researchers are only beginning to discover the causes and symptoms of many diseases. Besides, the treatment methods are also getting updated regularly. Not all patients would react to a treatment method in the same way. The condition of some patients may deteriorate during surgery. The patient's condition will not change if the relative attacks the doctors in such a situation. If you have doubts or apprehensions about the treatment, you can always take the legal route. If this continues, then doctors may be forced to refer the patients to the nearby super-speciality hospitals, fearing physical assaults from relatives. 

A personal experience
I can’t help but recall the time, during the early days of my career, when I worked as a medical officer in an ordinary government hospital in a district that didn’t have a medical college or private hospitals. As I was the only doctor there and lived in a quarter nearby, I was often called even at night to suture the wounds of alcohol addicts who got injured in bar brawls. Those who were brought in severe conditions were given immediate treatment and referred to other hospitals with better facilities. If immediate treatment is not provided, then the patient might die on the way to the other hospital. 

I often think that the newbie doctor who didn’t have the physical attributes to fend off an angry relative or a bystander may have referred all the patients to bigger hospitals without taking any risks. Society's attitude towards doctors and medical professionals has changed significantly.  

Doctors who choose this profession after studying for years and are willing to use their experience and the knowledge they have acquired through constant research and practical treatments now fear that they may be attacked at any moment. They do not deserve to work in an environment where there is a continuous threat of assault. The society also has the responsibility to ensure that medical professionals can do their jobs without fear for their lives.  
(The writer is an MBBS graduate who is an additional secretary with the Department of General Education.)