Dear Doctors, With All Due Respect

Doctor is one of the noblest professions since the beginning of the mankind. It’s a work of a Messiah to heal wounds and saving lives and is the best form of charity. But unfortunately, like all other professions, doctors have also turned into businessmen. It is no longer seen as a form of worship; instead, the profession is more of a money making practice.

Of course, not all the apples in a basket are the same but the majority is indeed rotten. And I won’t blame doctors alone; it’s the education system of the modern world that runs on the monetary mechanism; money is the fuel to keep this system booming. And because of that, the money spent on education is not seen as payment for educational services but rather an investment.

The ‘White’ color of a doctor’s coat is supposed to be a symbol of goodness, hope, purity, simplicity, humility and innocence. White was the favorite color of our beloved Prophet PBUH too. But unfortunately, this coat has become more of a symbol of pride and superiority complex.

I acknowledge that Doctors and Paramedic staff are doing heroic work for the mankind in this pandemic. Some doctors and nurses have also embraced martyrdom. But honestly, even in this pandemic situation, I doubt that even the majority is performing their duties sincerely with no evil intentions. There must be a few and I respect their intentions and dedication but the majority of this folk is busy cashing the situation for personal gains by different means. The mistrust among the general public for the doctors is somewhat justified.

The modern day doctors – especially in our region – do not see patients as people in need of help; rather they are seen as ‘Customers’. How many times doctors have purposely wrong diagnosed a patient to sell extra pair of medicine or prescribed surgery when it could have been easily avoided, just for some extra bucks? How many insignificant tests are advised just to fill cash registers? How many C-Sections are performed unnecessarily? And beside this financial misconduct, how much ethically doctors behave with their patients?

I also acknowledge the rude and unethical behavior of some patients but that is not an excuse to humiliate all other patients. One must keep in mind about the types of people they have to deal with. Unfortunately, majority of our population is uneducated and poor; to deal with them, one must demote to their level to have a better sense of understanding instead of neglecting them and treating them as inferiors.

I am not defending patients either; I have seen videos of patients and their relatives terrorizing hospital staff and physically assaulting doctors. But this mindset is not just about doctors and patients, it’s a matter of power show all around. When a patient is weak, he is humiliated and overpowered by the doctor and when the doctor is weaker, he is overpowered. A miserable tug of war.

Among many other reasons, the mistrust in doctors is one of the reasons why people are not taking doctor’s advises seriously; because throughout, doctors never took people seriously. This nation is indeed living on ‘ Allah k Sahare ‘.

Apologies if I hurt somebody. I just presented the facts and my intention was never to degrade or defame this noble profession or the people enclosed in it.