Chandigarh, March 2: Medical institutions, including Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), are producing robots, which do not know how to respect patients’ emotions, believes Dr Amod Gupta, professor emeritus and former dean of PGIMER.
He is the head of the committee constituted to teach ‘empathy’ to doctors. The committee was constituted by Amitabh Avasthi, deputy director (administration), PGIMER, in the second week of January.
The committee is planning to hold its first meeting in the second half of this month.
Talking about the purpose of the committee, Dr Amod Gupta, said, “We need to improve the communication skills of doctors in PGIMER with patients.”
“A majority of doctors are abrupt and lack empathy towards patients. This is being reflected on the ‘Mera Aspataal’ app, where satisfaction level scoring is generated every month,” said Gupta.
The ‘Mera Aspataal’ (my hospital) app is an initiative of the ministry of health and family welfare to capture the feedback of patients about their satisfaction level and views on quality of experience in a public healthcare facility.
When asked that the doctors in PGIMER are overburdened, which could be a reason behind “rude” behaviour, Dr Amod Gupta said “This is no excuse. In foreign countries, doctors are equally overburdened but they empathise with patients unlike here.”
He said that the medical students are only taught physics, chemistry and biology and are not exposed to language, arts, literature which impact their personality. “The medical institutions are creating robots, who are insensitive towards patients. They fail to relate to the pain of their patients,” said Dr Amod Gupta.
Empathy, he said, was important to gain the confidence of patients and for their better recovery.
The medical students are asked to follow William Osler, who used to teach that physicians should not even twitch a muscle of their face while talking to patients. But with changing time, things should change.
He added that students in US medical colleges have already been asked to read literature. But we are lacking behind.
“The committee will sit and brainstorm about finding ways that how communication skills of doctors can be improved and how we can make them more empathetic,” he said.
He said that right medication, good gesture and smile on doctors’ face can do wonders in patients life.
Dr Rajesh Kumar, dean (academics) and Dr D Behera , dean (research), Dr Ajit Avasthi, head of psychiatry department and Dr Sanjay Jain are among the members of the committee.
Source Hindustan Times
