HOUSEMEN are in the news yet again and for the wrong reasons.
The fact that a fellow houseman had taken his life is a cause for concern, when on the contrary a doctor’s primary duty is to save lives.
Each time something damaging takes place there is a lot of commotion and after a while things get back to “normal”.
Just as during the pandemic when the key word standard operating procedures (SOP) was on everyone’s lips, why aren’t there stringent SOP for doctors undergoing housemanship?
If there are strict guidelines to follow, surely this perennial issue of housemen being bullied and harassed would never occur.
In the education sector, when trainee teachers are posted to schools they are treated with dignity and respect.
They are welcomed with open arms as fellow colleagues.
What is important is that feeling of being accepted as part of the “family”.
The head of departments and senior teachers will monitor and keep tabs on them constantly, advising them on the nitty-gritty and knowhow of the trade. It is all done in a humane manner.
Almost everyone who has committed themselves into the field of medicine has to be a passionate lot.
They have to be brilliant in their studies to want to study medicine.
It is sad, disturbing and disheartening to hear of the ordeal that the housemen have to endure after struggling for five to six years to complete their MBBS or MD. The approach is not right.
The stress, humiliation and harassment, in addition to the long hours of working certainly isn’t the ideal way to train or treat junior doctors.
They are all human beings and need to be treated with dignity and respect.
How can they perform well when they are overworked and under duress?
The body and mind cannot function, which could lead to disastrous consequences.
Surely the doctors themselves know that they have to work longer hours if and when the need arises. After all, they have taken the Hippocratic Oath.
Just as Jiminy Cricket was the conscience for Pinocchio in the Waltz Disney movie, doctors too have a conscience or suara hati.
They know they have to work under extreme conditions when the need arises. They will muster up their inner strength to ride the storm.
On hindsight, a course could be organised for the senior doctors, as to the management of junior doctors.
Counsellors from the Education Ministry could play an important role too by assisting their fellow counterparts in the Health Ministry for a win-win situation.
Thiagarajan Mathiaparanam
Klang
