Story of Unsung heroes

 Today, I am going to write about the AYUSH resident doctors I have come across and their stories of courage. As MBBS doctors and creatures of privilege we fail to recognize and remember the struggle to get admission to medical college. The difference between getting the coveted prize and missing it can be fraction of a mark. Add to this the reservation conundrum, the disability quota and the hacking of NEET. So in my humble opinion the ones who miss out think that they can study medicine through other branches like Homeopathy, Ayurvedic Medicine, Unani, Yoga and Naturopathy to become doctors. So with the basic medical education in place it is quite easy to obtain knowledge of allopathic medicines of common use and prescribe the same. While technically this is wrong and this practice is condemned as cross pathy I have mixed views about the same. 

In India, the health policy recognizes the shortage of trained doctors in India and have attempted to create a loose legal framework where the AYUSH doctors are allowed to prescribe allopathic medicine. They are also trained to perform or assist in surgical procedures especially in emergencies. Now all of us at least my generation has been a witness to scarcity in general. We have always seen a country where everything including healthcare was always in short supply. Also, none of us could differentiate between a doctor based on degree. The trust level was such and faith in the doctor was such that a cure was almost certain and we rarely heard of botch ups or violence against doctors. The family doctors had native common sense and wisdom. Their degrees were never scrutinized and we never questioned their competence.  But that is not the real topic of this blog. 

I have a confession and disclaimer to make, as a practicing Orthopedic surgeon and an allopathic practitioner, I had a tendency to look down on and underestimate the doctors who were homeopaths and of other systems of medicine as I felt that they were not scientific or evidence backed. However, like in all systems there are decisions based on clinical judgement and medicine is a combination of science and art so evidence based treatment was never a proven fact, especially as research was often flawed or biased. 

As a hospital administrator I have fully realised the value of AYUSH doctors who despite humiliation, taunts and sarcastic comments have performed and given of their best in the most difficult circumstances. While it is difficult to hide names I would like to praise a male doctor who was a resident doctor who rose from the ranks and developed the capability to be technically capable of doing everything an intensivist could do and even better. Despite having less than adequate theoretical training, he could treat many serious patients. Yet he was humility personified and fully realised that for survival and progress he needed to not show off or expose the errors made by persons with higher qualifications. He was and remains the go to man for his hospital and during Covid he never once flinched from the call of duty. In fact even today his absence is missed in a crisis. While this is one example the truly remarkable story is of young girls mainly from the Muslim community who have a lot of constraints due to orthodoxy and patriarchal pressures. These girls navigate a world of aspiration and upward mobility, enjoying the job given to them. They show a keen desire to learn and coming from middle class and poor families, they land up as providers of income to their families. Yet, they are underpaid and put in long hours. Exploited in workplace and at home their life always is a case of "what if?" I had a just a few marks more and cracked Allopathic entrance tests. You get many such from other communities as well, an example of an orthodox Parsi priests daughter who literally rebelled against her priest father who wanted to keep her home to prevent becoming impure due to contamination. Many of them wanted the concession of wearing Hijab or Burkha or scarf which was difficult to allow but some workable solution was offered. 

The hard reality of lack of uniformly well trained doctors with allopathic qualification especially since a majority of MBBS doctors were aspiring for Post Graduate made it impossible for many hospitals to run good critical care units.These doctors who by sheer hard work and dedication are manning our hospital are the unsung heroes worthy of praise. By sheer experience and willingness to excel they give the support to ensure that we the qualified doctors can deliver outcomes. In fact many of these doctors are actually in a position to train qualified MBBS doctors.

Just out of sheer nostalgia so many names come to my mind and their stories fun games and sheer confidence sometimes almost cavalier, made me wonder struck. I will just randomly write names in alphabetical order and I am sure some will read this and laugh inwardly and maybe they may have a fond memory to share. Afrin, Alia, Bushra, Abdul, Ferzin, Huda, Jasmine, Kinjal, Mubashira, Mahzabeen, Roshni, Sana, Saniya, Sumaira, Tahera, Yasmin, Yazdan , Zakira etc etc are the names that come to mind. Many more were there and I feel that they are the unsung heroes of our countries health care system. I would like to acknowledge and thank them for doing a lot of work with rare skill and dedication. They bear the taunts and insults and snide comments often unjustified with fortitude. This blog is my salaam to them all.m