AIIMS-Mangalagiri President T.S. Ravikumar on Friday urged doctors to be empathetic towards their patients in order to deliver them the best possible medical care.
Quoting from Walt Whitman’s epic poem ‘Song of Myself’, Dr. Ravikumar inserted a caveat. “Empathy doesn’t mean doctors shouldn’t distance themselves from patients. They should see a disease from a patient’s point of view and suggest treatment,” he said, addressing medical students at the Siddhartha Medical College here.
First year MBBS students from 14 institutes in the State took part in a three-day seminar and exhibition organised by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on its temporary campus at the college.
Medical negligence
Narrating instances of deaths at hospitals due to negligence or systemic failures, Mr. Ravikumar said communication was integral to healthcare. Referring to a study published in the Lancet in September last year, Mr. Ravikumar said that the country had the highest number of deaths due to poor quality healthcare among low and middle-income countries (LMIC).
Calling upon students to foster a culture of empathy, he said a blame-free environment in hospitals does not translate into an accountability-free one.
Citing a World Health Organisation (WHO) study which revealed that 11.4% of patients were injured across hospitals due to negligence of staff, he exhorted students to work towards enabling safer environments at hospitals.
AIIMS-Mangalagiri Director Mukesh Tripathi, highlighting the importance of research and publications, said allopathy had evolved and surpassed other fields as physicians ensured documentation of their work.
“Ayurveda could not develop as much since its practitioners didn’t publish their medical experiences. It was passed on to subsequent generations through anecdotes,” Dr. Tripathi said.
“Research needs to be replicable so that the next generation could work on it,” he said, cautioning students against industry-driven research, fabrication of data and plagiarism.
‘Brain speaks’
Students gave presentations on areas in anatomy, physiology and biochemistry.
At the exhibition, among other models, a network of roads, overbridges and toll gates set up on a flat cardboard cutout of a human body represented the gastrointestinal tract (GIT).
“The tract could be construed as a highway. Smooth passage of food is necessary for proper digestion,” said Manasa Dolai of Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada. “Traffic congestion or two-way flow of traffic could lead to indigestion,” she said.
While AIIMS won the seminar competition, Rangaraya Medical College came second.