Medical ‘service’ in Sri Lanka; a mere hypocrisy today

Disclaimer: This is not an account of generalization towards the entire medial fraternity.

A baby was born, just now, out of the mother’s womb. Yes, it’s a baby boy. Does it matter? No. Why not? Boy or girl, s/he’s going to be a doctor.

Sixteen years have completed in the 21st century and the scope of education and career prospects are broader and abundant than never before. However, majority of the Sri Lankan mothers and fathers still dream of guiding their sons and daughters to become doctors (physicians).

More than a lucrative profession over the decades, it is one of the well-respected careers in the society. Physicians in the contemporary societies have been literally worshiped next to the Almighty. The profession of medicine was considered as more of a service than a conventional job where they are duty bound around the clock, not from 9 to 5. More than their years of academics and practice, it was considered a blessing to be a physician.

Taken for granted, today the doctors abstain from not only around the clock service, but also from their day to day obligations, strike! A profession of service has become a profession full of luxurious demands, by letting thousands of innocent lives at stake.

The array of strikes is of various contexts. Strike for vehicle permits, that too in every five years, though the profession is one of the highest paid in the country. Then comes the strike to close down the privately owned medical colleges; where the merits are either way, the intent behind is highly questionable. If it’s a matter of quality education, where is the quality of such education which the current set of doctors have obtained? Are these strikes every other week in line with the principles of Hippocratic Oath? If privately owned medical colleges are to be shut due to their lack of quality education, even the state owned system has failed to provide such quality education which lacks diligence and empathy in serving the nation as well as its citizens. One can simply assume it’s an attempt to uphold the supremacy of themselves in order to demand further luxuries by sacrificing more innocent lives.

The latest of the strikes is demanding admissions for their children in National Schools. Primarily, it’s grave insult on the Sri Lankan education system, which has nurtured for almost twenty years to become doctors, where rest of the schools in the country are deemed unworthy. Also it’s a matter of hypocrisy considering themselves as superior citizens than the ordinary where their entire span of education was funded through the tax paid by the ordinary citizens of this country. It’s a common norm that all state-service employees are transferred at regular intervals around the island and no other profession has so far demanded national school admission for their children. Even the servicemen in the military have never come up with such demands. From where does this privilege come from?

The profession of medicine is one of the emergency services and it’s time to adapt under the ambit of other emergency services like military, police etc. If taking one’s life is a criminal offence, then how about withholding medical attention to a critical patient? Who is responsible for all the pain, suffering and loss of lives due to these unwarranted demands? Can a serviceman in the military be allowed to abstain from work when the defense of the nation is at stake? Then why the doctors are?

The time has come to change the attitude. Again, it’s not a generalized account of all doctors. However, the question of the hour, is it still worthy to consider them next to God? The attitude has to change, has to be ruthless. Dear parents, when you nurture your children, provide them with a reality, medicine is a service, not a social class of privilege; and indeed, the world is full of opportunities in terms of career which could bring about wealth and privilege.

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