Kozhikode: “I’ve had enough of this wretched profession. Four more years to go. I can’t bear to think about it.”

For Dr Rajesh G, Professor and Head of the Department of Cardiology at Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, the words came after yet another difficult episode in a profession where complications can arise even when every possible precaution is taken.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Dr Rajesh spoke about the emotional toll of treating patients, the risks inherent in medical procedures and, most painfully, what he described as the "ingratitude of patients and their relatives".

The immediate trigger for his post was a complaint submitted to the Medical College superintendent by the wife of a patient who developed a complication following an angiogram.

The patient, who had four coronary blockages and required bypass surgery, underwent an angiogram. Following the procedure, the catheter inserted through the radial artery in his right hand became difficult to retrieve.

Dr Rajesh said he personally attempted several techniques to remove the catheter but was ultimately unsuccessful. A cardiac surgery assistant professor was called in, and the artery was opened to remove the catheter.

The complication came against the backdrop of an already lengthy waiting list for bypass surgery at the hospital. According to Dr Rajesh, more than 900 patients were waiting for bypass surgery in the cardiac surgery department. Since this particular patient had a blockage in the left main coronary artery, he said he had specifically requested the head of the cardiac surgery department to advance the patient’s surgery date. "Yet, days later, a complaint was filed seeking action over the complication," he says.

“Doctors do not leave home in the morning telling their wives that they are going to harm two patients that day,” he wrote, stressing that complications can occur unexpectedly and are not deliberately caused by doctors.

Dr Rajesh said that he has continued to work without private practice and without accepting money from patients, arriving at the hospital from 8 am and continuing with the demands of his profession. But complaints of this nature, he said, sometimes leave him questioning his own decision to remain in the profession.

He even found himself thinking about the suggestion repeatedly made by his daughters: why not leave the job and work for a few years in a Middle Eastern country, earn some money and step away from the pressures of government medical service?

He admits that he is tired. “I’ve had enough of this wretched profession. Four more years to go. I can’t bear to think about it,” he wrote. What keeps him going, he said, is his love for teaching.

Talking to Onamnorama, Dr Rajesh said he had faced several similar situations during his 28 years of service as a government doctor.

“Around 30 angioplasty procedures are performed every day. Nearly 600 patients visit the hospital’s outpatient department daily. We are struggling to handle this workload and, ultimately, we are under tremendous stress. If we have to face unnecessary complaints after all this, it can leave us exhausted. That is why I wrote the Facebook post,” he said.