Life as a Doctor

Reality check: Doctors are second to god on this earth.

Real-reality check: A doctor is just another homo sapien who saves you with his pills and kills you with his bills.

Well… a doctor’s bread comes from the patient, who knocks on his door, with multiple question is his mind. The patient is gobsmacked with the consultancy fees, but he knows he has no other option. He pays the fees with a heavy heart and enters the doctor’s room. He looks around for a while, mesmerized with the number and the weight of the books on his shelf. He is a little impressed, but still five hundred bucks is too much. As soon as he shifts his gaze to the doctor, he starts shooting his questions. The doctor, obviously, will not answer all of them. The doctor prescribes the medicines and a couple of tests and the not-so-pleased patient leaves. The patient knows in his heart that these tests are just another way to pull out the extra cash left in his wallet. But what if, he really needs the test? Scared to die of illness, he half-heartedly follows the doctor’s instructions. Whether the patient is treated, is of course, yet another story.

Well, this is a patient’s perspective of a doctor. Now let us take at a doctor’s perspective of himself.

The doctor sees the patient’s unwillingness to go for the tests. But he also knows the amount of hard work he had put in to get the dignified title against his name. He still remembers the infinite number of isomer structures he had practiced just to make his concepts crystal clear. He still feels nostalgic when he sees his daughter mugging up the I-cannot-pronounce-these-weird-names. He knows what it takes to opt for two-year drop for the entrance exam, especially when his school friends are already preparing for placements. He knows in his heart, that even after obtaining an M.B.B.S. degree he stands nowhere in this World of Medicine. So, he starts burning the midnight oil again and goes for an M.D. He sometimes ponders and laughs at these hypocrites, who hail him as a God and at the same time, accuse him of obtaining a fraudulent degree.

Funny, how he had a perfect schedule for his studies in college but not in the job. On paper, it’s an eight-hour job, but his family are well acquainted with the reality. You see, there is always that one relative who would call in the middle of the night. Reason: a minor headache. Treatment: bang your head against the wall. Treatment which the semi-conscious doctor (involuntarily) gives at 1am: Aspirin. He constantly advices his patients to get an adequate sleep of six to eight hours, but he himself is turning into an insomniac. He attends the back-to-back meetings with his colleagues and the sometimes-greedy chemists. No two patients are the same. Each one of them seems as a new jigsaw puzzle. He has to temporarily forget the previous patient and focus on the current one-but the doctor’s memory palace has grown exponentially in the past decade. He recognizes the not-so-regular patients as swimmingly as the daily ones. The not-so-regular ones are pleased. They, now, trust the doctor-and this is his moment of pride. He feels honored when he checks the special box saying “Doctor” while booking his travel tickets. He feels special because he knows he is different from the crowd.

Folks! It doesn’t matter what people think of you when you charge that ‘heavy’ consultancy fees or when you ask them to go for all sorts of tests. Because it is you who has spent the decade learning and experimenting. Believe in yourself!