I was a local surgical trainee in South Asia more than a decade ago and then left for East Asia for Residency training before I moved to the West, where I reside at the moment. Hence Sundays are always fun days- certainly for me, as I catch up on news from elsewhere.
To give a little bit of background , I had no plans of leaving South Asia initially where I was a surgical trainee, and I must say I did quite well in all my surgical exams – I was an exceptional student so to speak of – How ever my ambitions to join academia to University that I used to study medicine did not bear through. As with many “other” things in South Asia , appointments – academic or otherwise , rarely go to people who deserve them – ” apple polishing’ and ‘sucking up’ to others was not things I was good at – These are Indeed an essential skill if you are to survive there. So to cut a long story short soon after a rather disappointed me left South Asia and for east Asia – We will revisit this point a bit later.
This particular piece of news from the country where I used to train in South Asia caught my eye this week – Apparently a ” Professor” had made a “royal mess” of removing a PEG tube [ Gastrostomy tube used for feeding] and reinserting a new PEG [ Likley for a buried bumper], and the patients family was unhappy. So the patients father had attempted to call the “professors” via phone – It is a cardinal sin or a “sacrilege” for the “mortal patients” in this particular country question their doctors, let alone call them. Annoyed the “professor” had “threatened” the family to discharge the patient from his care without any explanation , which he had done – the family were left hanging in a limbo, Patient got seriously unwell and then went to private sector to get the mess sorted. But they were not keeping quite about it hence I heard the news.
Again I am not sure about the exact detail nor can I comment on the technicality of the problem, though from what was said, as an experienced General surgeon, it did seem pretty clear to me what had happened. Hence let us leave the technical bits aside [Although if you are the “professor” one would expect one to know how to deal with a PEG complication – A competent registrar should be able to]
What is glaringly obvious is the ” Lack of communication and complete Arrogance of the Professor -Mistakes happen even to the best of Surgeons [ Obviously the said “professor” does not belong to this group…] but it is ultimately the doctor patient relationship and the Rapport with the patient and family that decides the outcome. You can do the most complex operation and do an exceptional job at that [ Not the case in this particular case I am sure as I have seen this “professor” at work] but if you do not explain what you do/did to the patient and expect to Patients to accept your word as “gospel” truth – and get “Annoyed” when a patient requests clarification or calls you – I have one advise for the ” Professor”- Find another Job. You may survive in this particular country in “South asia” for some time , as patients do treat ” doctors” like Gods, but even then, Look what happened …….Did not go well did it ?
Coming back to the personal bit for the story- This particular “Professor” was one of the “Apple polishers” that was appointed for an academic position apparently I wasn’t deemed suitable – I had the “pleasure” of knowing him for some time and this is certainly not the first time he demonstrated these traits , not to mention his surgical incompetancy, which was glaringly obvious – But he was a world class ” apple polisher” so I presume in South Asia you climb the up the ladder fast :). I am sure he sets an exceptional example for the medical students and juniors also. Once again “perils” of Appointing the wrong person for the wrong Job – This particular country is a prime example of this, not only healthcare but In every imaginable field. The end result is country is nearly Bankrupt now ……
So the moral of the story is – Accept mistakes, acknowledge them, communicate honestly, manage patients expectations- Above all do not get annoyed when the patients seeks clarification – Leave your Ego aside. As the famous saying goes “You can run but you cant hide”
One cannot promise success all the time, but one can promise to do ones best -and Most patients would appreciate your truthfulness and honesty even when things go wrong !
Safe surgery till we meet again !!
LBS
Surgery-the good bad and ugly 