Tata Memorial Cancer Institute director Anil D'Cruz asked doctors to update themselves on medical research and tailor their practice accordingly. “You need to challenge the dogma. This is very important for a professional,” he said.
Dr. D'Cruz was speaking at the inauguration of a three-day “Medical Update – 2012” conference organised by Father Muller Medical College here on Friday. The conference had been organised to mark two-decades of postgraduate course at the college.
Treatment
Stressing on the importance of medical research, Dr. D'Cruz said it was important for a doctor to provide what the patient needed for an aliment. “We must provide what best the patient needs than what you consider as the best (treatment),” he said.
A good doctor was one who combined his clinical experience with best external evidence, which comes from research, he added. Mr. D'Cruz said it was wrong to think research as time consuming and restricted only to developed countries and academic institutions. “As many as three-fourths of clinical cardiac trial comes from non-academic setup,” he said. Citing research done by H.S. Bhawaskar, a physician from Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra, Dr. D'Cruz said it was all about attitude towards research. “If you have the will you can do it,” he said and added that research indeed would influence a doctor's practice. Mr. D'Cruz said conditions in the country suited research.
“We have less overhead, good infrastructure, and patients, who are compliant to research.” More the number of patients on clinical trials, better would be the care, and education. Hospitals involved in clinical trials provide better patient care, he said.
The former Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde, who inaugurated the conference, expressed the need to expose doctors in rural areas with updates in the field of medicine.
“Small seminars in interior places will go a long way in improving the rural health care.”
Mr. Hegde said completion of a degree should not be the end of acquisition of knowledge.
“Knowledge comes from research. You should be doctors of the day than of the past,” he said.
K.S. Bhat and N. Hegde, who have put in two decades of service at Father Muller Medical College, were felicitated. Administrator of Father Muller Medical College and Hospital Richard Coelho spoke.
