Sunday, January 22, 2017

DOCTOR IS NOT AVAILABLE

Many years ago, I was working in a town near the east coast in India. One day I fell sick and wanted to see a doctor. My friends suggested that I go to a nearby hospital and they accompanied me. When we reached the hospital I looked at the list of doctors displayed near the reception. I wanted to see someone in General Medicine. I noticed that there were three doctors under General Medicine. One was a senior doctor with an MD and the other two were junior doctors with MBBS. I told the nurses at the reception that I wanted to see the senior doctor. They told me that he was not available. I asked them when he will be available. They said he would be back after about one hour. I said I will wait for him. I noticed that they were disturbed and looked at each other. Then they said that he was available and that I could go in and see him. I saw the doctor. He examined me, made a diagnosis and wrote a prescription. Before leaving I told him what happened at the reception. He seemed surprised but did not say anything.
Later on, when I thought about it, I realized that the nurses at the reception may have been trying to help the junior doctors. Most patients would prefer to see the senior doctor who was also more qualified and the junior doctors may have been getting very few patients.

PULIMOOTTIL SILKS

Pulimoottil Silks, Kollam