A Doctor's Epistle

It is yet another Friday.

I must begin by saying thanks for the positive feedback that came through after the article by TNO and after the 2014 Valentine’s Day supplement (got so many questions after the latter). That was greatly appreciated and it earned the blog a few extra clicks which is very good for business.

Away from that…

I think a good number of you know that I am a Medical Officer by now and that I am “interning” with the Ministry of Health at its Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. On the other hand, I have deliberately been running away from the habit of positing things that are related to my profession. While that may be attributed to many reasons, the main reason is that I do not know how to blend my freelance writing with professional issues. Simply that. Today, however I will share something to do with my work and I must make it a point that I am not here to share a love story.

One would think that I am here to complain about the meagre salaries (which come on the 33rd of the month or later) or the not so good working conditions in the hospitals. While I acknowledge that these are real issues, I would say that every person who is approaching the end of their medical training sees those coming and if they still whine about it while they are in the system, they might have a problem or three. Maganizo angatu aenewo, eti? The point I was trying to make here is the one that most of the issues that affect me big time as a young member of the medical profession do not come from "the system" I am in but rather from its (potential) beneficiaries. Let me share a couple of scenarios.

If you have had a friend or relative who has gone to our public universities or their equivalent, you understand the level of excitement that comes with such achievements. One thing you might not have noticed is that the hype gets to be a bit disproportionate when you get to be selected to pursue programs like ours; the sort of programs where people know what you will end up doing when you (by the grace of God) end up finishing the program. The adokotala hype started way before some of us started the foundation year of college and while I must say that I was a bit indifferent about it then, I am have a bit of an issue with it now. Reason? The fact that I went through medical school and successfully finished has made some people stop seeing the person in me. Every time they see me now all they see is a white coat and a stethoscope in the corridors of some hospital or some superhuman “thing” doing some complex surgery somewhere. Don’t get me wrong here. It is not wrong to call a doctor a doctor, but that whole thing, in my view has its own context. If I am walking around Blantyre market buying mbatatesi or if I am at St Pius church busy being the choirboy I am, the doctor card becomes a bit unnecessary. I could say the same about the moments I sit on the counter at Soche Tourist Lodge or Oasis to cool the night out. Under such circumstances, calling me Richard becomes a bit more appropriate. I could continue with a whole list of scenarios, but the main idea is what while some of us might be proud of our professions, it is good to acknowledge that we first became people before we became what we are now. This is not just about the way you address your doctor friend, but also about the way you act towards them. Many a time when they are out of the hospital you don’t need to be bringing them of the constant reminders of where they work and the conditions therein.

Then there is the other thing of asking for information and help from doctor friends. It is a wonderful thing to have a friend from a particular profession and I think on that we can agree. I have surrounded myself with different professionals and it makes me secure. If I need an app, Edmond Kachale is here. If I need an architectural design, Charles Lipenga and Reign Khunga are a dial away and when I need a lawyer I can easily reach out to the Richie Online resident lawyer. It is a privilege to have a friend from any profession including ours. I liked the words that greeted me on my graduation when I got to the place where my whole clan was gathered; “Achimwene ndi adokotala ndipo tsopano kufa kwatha” (He is now a doctor and we will no longer be dying). While that may sound ridiculous, some do actually have expectations in line with those. They actually that the fact that they have a medical professional for a friend, they can pull off easy access to services and what have you. While that may work  in some instances, it may not always work because of the limited capacity of the particular friend or the system.

There are times that some of us find ourselves in need of some services, tests, medical examinations, drugs and what have you and while we may have friends in the healthcare system, we have to understand that there are some procedures that have to be followed for such services to be dispensed; and that there are specific people involved in such. If you are an adult suffering from a headache, it is a bit unreasonable to be calling a friend who works in the labour ward to help you skip queues as that may have negative implications on his work. If your kid is having a fever, calling someone who works in the Queens Medical Department might not be too helpful. The main point is that we must be reasonable when we are asking for help and we must manage our expectations because the hospital system is compartmentalized and there is only so much someone can ethically do for you when they are not on their turf.

Then there is the issue of professional advice. Like I pointed out, having a friend in the medical profession is a privilege but it is one that must be used with a sound mind and caution. This hasn’t happened to me personally but I have heard people complaining that people give them calls explaining their symptoms and expect them to prescribe over the phone. While this may sound like a simple issue, I would like to point out that it is not. There is a reason people do have medical consultations where a doctor and a patient have a lengthy chat followed by an examination to establish a diagnosis and give treatment. Substituting that whole process with a phone call is a bit unsafe for both the patient and the doctor for reasons to do with safe prescriptions and registration respectively. You may not understand that, but just know that it is not the safest way of doing things. The point of this long paragraph? Use that doctor friend of yours, and ask for advice but do not be mad when he or she turns down your request to prescribe and tells you to get checked out at the nearest clinic. These things are not as obvious as we think they are, sometimes.

Having said that, others may think I have taken a swipe at them. I would like to think that I haven’t. This article, in my view is what we would call prophylaxis in the medical circles; something aimed at preventing future errors. On the other hand, I should make this point that before we became professionals in whatever field, we were sons, brothers, friends, baes and many other things to people. Obtaining a qualification and working in a certain field shouldn’t redefine everything about our lives. Lets talk as friends and wherever necessary as professionals and let us understand each other whenever our capacities are limited. Ngati pali pofunika kulipirana, let us pay each other for the work.

Ndiye wina tikakumana koonera Champions League adzafikire kundikuwira kuti Doc…. Ndidzamuswera botolo la Coca cola mmutu.

Happy Friday!