Teaching medicine
I write to comment on some of the aspects of medical education and training of our medical graduates. As one who has had the privilege of being a medical teacher for nearly 30 years in government service and another 30 years later in private institutions, I am anxious that our medical graduates must get the best teaching. The recent proliferation of medical colleges is well intended but good teachers, especially in the basic sciences, anatomy, physiology, etc., should be available to lay the foundation for medical knowledge. Recalling retired teachers may be considered if need be. Good teachers can inspire and bring out good students and medical graduates. In some countries, student evaluation of teachers is in vogue. This is not entirely satisfactory for an evaluation of competence of teachers. The acid test of good teaching is the response and performance of students and achievements thereafter. Recent introduction of modern electronic devices in diagnosis and treatment is impressive. Telemedicine in diagnosis and advising management have come to stay. But still, the time-honoured method of Hippocrates with suitable adaptations for our conditions must be followed. Medical practice is a person-to-person interaction — two humans in flesh and blood — the physical suffering as also mental agony of one requiring the “balm” of the medical person.
Dr. K.V. Thiruvengadam,
Chennai
True friend
The tale of two friends who were heading from Surat, Gujarat, to their village in Uttar Pradesh (Inside pages, “On unforgiving road, till death did them part”, May 18) was moving. The care and comfort the friend gave to his sick roommate is unparalleled and reminds me of many scenes in films in which a mother would care for her son. The story reiterates that down at the ground level there is a humanitarian approach among people of various faiths and it is only politicians who want to drive a wedge between them to achieve their political goals.
It is time that everyone thinks that despite the different faith one follows, it is the peaceful coexistence that we should try to achieve, as the two friends showed.
A.J ainulabdeen,
Chennai
