We are living in an era where medical science is advancing by leaps and
bounds. There was a time when the gynecologist who brought a child into
this world was her/his mentor cum physician. With further advancement,
etiologies and pathophysiologies of placental infarcts and neonatal
stroke were found to be different. This led to the formation of a new
tertiary specialty called Pediatrics, and hence a pediatrician was born
(all against the wills and whims of the gynecologist). With more
knowledge of the subject, further diversification occurred and various
Pediatric subspecialties developed. And now we are in a world where
offshoots of subspecialties are also coming up (like movement specialist
in Pediatric neurology, who is only interested in your "moves"; an
epileptologist whose professional profile is exclusively to search
spikes and sharp waves and slow waves in various electroencephalographic
montages).
But in the same world of advancement lives a
different world. A world of common people – for whom if you have a
prefix as "Dr", you are neither "Mr" or "Mrs" but a "Dr.", a demigod who
should know a cure to every ailment irrespective of whatever your
specialty is. Here I will quote few examples to whom I was testimony to:
1. "Are you a lady doctor?", –A middle-aged man
peeped into my room (which clearly stated my name and qualification
as Pediatric neurologist) and asked.
–"Yes". Undoubtably I am a doctor and
unquestionably a lady.
–"Ok. My wife is 2 months pregnant and she
requires a regular check-up. Kindly do so.."
–"But I am not qualified to do so sir", I
replied.
–"But you said you are a lady doctor….also you
treated my relative’s son…he is better now ...he only referred me to
you."
I tried explaining him my specialization (that I deal
only with children and that too with neurological problems) but he had a
better explanation that as his wife is a patient and you are a doctor,
so is there question of any if’s and but’s.
2. A 2-year-old child who had global
developmental delay was brought to my clinic with few blood tests
and a normal MRI brain. After history and examination father
questioned "Dr., what is the cause of his illness".
"I need to do a few blood tests to confirm the
diagnosis". I answered.
"But all the blood tests are done already. Look
at these… All are normal"…He forwarded towards me a pile a paper.
Those were complete blood count, renal function
test, liver function test, calcium, vitamin D3 and many others.
"No..No.. I need to do certain different and
specialized tests." I insisted.
"But these blood tests are all normal…How can a
child have all his blood tests normal and still have problem…His
brain is also normal as his MRI is normal". He objected strongly.
I repeated, "I need to do certain special
blood tests"…(I was thinking of doing whole genome sequencing to
find the cause of his global developmental delay and he was
thinking…. already so much blood has been taken out from my child’s
body and still the doctor is clueless about the diagnosis…more blood
tests ..why.??? It is the same bloody blood !)
3. I examined a 2-year-old child, who had
cerebral palsy and seizures secondary to perinatal insult. He was
unable to sit; there was partial neck holding. I spent twenty
minutes explaining to the parents about the injury to the brain, the
cause of his seizures, the etiology behind his developmental delay,
prognosis of the child, and answered every query related to the
child’s treatment plans (including stem cell and hyperbaric oxygen
which they had already tried). After the whole discussion, the uncle
who was sitting very quietely throughout the consultation suddenly
contributed with his inputs. "Dr. I think that you should do a X-ray
spine. Look his trunk is so loose while his limbs are so tight…I am
sure there is something wrong with his spine…Also because he is not
eating well so there is no strength…give him good tonics…he drinks
very little milk ....I believe that is the root cause of all his
ailments."
We are living in such a diversified world where on
one hand people google out "pediatric neurologist" even when their child
have his first febrile seizure whereas on other hand they still believe
that any person with a white coat (even though now a days beauty salon
employees also wear a white apron) can cure their child no matter what
the ailment is.
So kudos to such a noble profession and a salute to
all my pediatrician colleagues who meticously treat the child with their
near perfect medical knowledge and convince their parents with their
perfect commonsense.
