Clinical Medicine to Experimental Medicine?

Dr.T.V.Rao MD
The beginning of the Medicine was originated to relieve the suffering of the Co-humans. No body though it will have economic interests when it was originated, and practised as art, profession carried the great respect. Last four decades has seen unprecedented growth in scientific and technical advances. However far more damaging than technology is the corrosive effect from the general deterioration of social integrity, honesty, and morality over the past 4 decades. We made a tremendous progress in Medicine. Although it is true that at no previous times has medicine been more able to effectively treat and cure complex diseases, just look at what has happened to the professions of law, politics, and business. I was observing for four decades things have rapidly changed the respect once enjoyed, nowhere you find and doctors are branded as exploiters with conflict of interest. India like many other developing countries people are revolting against the corruption, abuse of power, even against competent Doctors when thing go wrong. Can we be in our profession be immune to social assault just being a Doctor, as we cannot escape the Social changes? When we remain silent and look at the other way at legalized atrocities, experiments inflicted upon the youngest, oldest, and most helpless of humanitywhen we become callous to the inherent dignity of human life from conception until natural deaththen we forfeit in some way, little by little, the soul of our profession. In the recesses of our hearts, we know it. We must never forget that spark of inspiration that made us aspire to become physicians in the first place. I have seen excellent physicians and surgeons whose solutions to human suffering with simple remedies and always poverty is respected, and richness of their patients were never exploited. The new way of practicing medicine has made the skilled clinical diagnostician a vanishing species, a true dinosaur. It has also taken most of the fun and challenge out of medicine. It has depersonalized the patient doctor relationship and has essentially eliminated the individuality of patient care. We call this malady of practice technologic tenesmus: the uncontrollable urge to rely on the latest medical hi-tech instruments and

gadgets to diagnose. Please do consider we too are patients if not today a head of our life. The key, of course, is that the physician must be concerned for the patient as a human being. I still search how many humanistic Physicians are there today to give a consolation to his suffering but what must not be forgotten is the obvioussimple kindness, a gentle touch, a caring wordhow hard is it, really? Still, these simple attributes seem at times so elusive. Test yourself how happy you were when you are attended by simple humanistic physician, in fact even a caring nurse. The key, of course, is that the physician must be concerned for the patient as a human being. Even the Doctors who see the suffering of their parents or next kith and kin in the modern hospitals often decide that they have peaceful end rather experimented in the vagaries of the Medical Profession. The advances in Medical profession and increasing number of Specialists and Superspecalists served a while for glory of the profession. While the growing influence of ever-more-sophisticated technology makes the human side of medicine seem somewhat more distant, it is by no means unachievable, as long as the focus remains on the patient as a human beingnot as an object on whom to try out new technologies in order to impress society and compete with our colleagues. We spend very little asking the history, and subject him to several investigations. In bypassing or curtailing the historytaking and physical examination, the high-tech approach weakens the patientdoctor bond, or prevents it from ever forming. By contrast, the high-touch approachthe apotheosis of Oslerian medicineensures that we treat the patient, not the disease. But now, the ever-increasing emphasis on technology, the shrinking of government funding of medical services, and the devastating impact of managed care have delivered a serious blow to clinical teaching. Medical colleges and even age old Institutions are so strapped for money these days, that they force the clinical faculty to spend progressively more time caring for patients who can pay their bills and progressively less time caring for medical students and house officers. Consequently, trainees are left to fend for themselves in the quest for competency, unaware of how much better their lot could be and should be. The concept of euthanasia is originated and propagated by many intellectuals as you make survey among the doctors and other medical professional everybody wishes a peaceful death, death in the loving arms of

someone who really cares is far better than a cold, anonymous death in an ICU. Viewing the human being as a person with an eternal soul, rather than as an object of technology, is what makes the difference. Hence, from its roots as a patient-centred, learning-oriented experience, medical education has evolved into a laboratory-centred, algorithm-oriented, technologydriven, computer-dependent, Internet-based, treat first, diagnose later training system. In other words, we are exchanging sleep-deprived healers for a cadre of wide-awake inexperienced human physicians. However, modern medicine must also care for the patient as well as it did 40 years ago. But everyone thinks that unless medical education undergoes substantial reform, things will only get worse. Look at it this way: When you get sick, would you rather have a tired, competent doctor or a well-rested, incompetent doctor? Whose aim is to make money at the cost of our LIFE? Soon we are heading for a Medical system, we are just Human guinea pigs, no legalisation to save us??? Email doctortvrao@gmail.com