The Grassroot Level

 

Every medico has a story behind choosing medical science- while for some the story consists of sad and uninteresting things like family pressure or an unfulfilled, one-sided love story with engineering, or one scary old lady telling them that they were born to be doctors, for some others there is that one moment when they realized that they wanted to be a doctor. Many of the medicos in government medical colleges come from the rural community and it is the dream to serve that under-supplied, under-staffed rural PHC that leads them to become doctors. But as one grows up and sees the other lucrative job opportunities that the medical field offers to good doctors, the dream is lost. The rural PHC remains empty as young doctors flock to city hospitals or even other countries.

Maybe in order to remind us of our promise to our local PHC, a third-year medico in India has to go for something called a rural visit, where the Department of Community Medicine takes the students to a nearby Health and Wellness center (subcenter) to make them see the working system there. One gets to visit the nearby BPHC (Block level Primary Health Centre), ICDS center (Integrated Child Development Scheme) and meet the rural community. While it might initially set the mood for a picnic when all of you board the bus and leave for the distant PHC, gossiping all the way with your friends, but this visit proves to be a great learning experience. The ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife) at the subcenter will be more friendly than any nurse you have ever met and it is an inspiration to find your intern seniors working dedicatedly there to serve people. As you walk through narrow unpaved lanes to get to the ICDS center you cannot help but wonder about the peace and quiet in the area. For once all the scary stories about the torture over doctors at PHCs seem to be false and impossible as you see people waiting quietly in lines unlike that angry, shouting crowd you are so accustomed to seeing at your own college OPD.

 

While returning from the rural visit many of us renew that old promise of serving the rural community that we made years ago. But in the modern work-a-day world promises are meant to be broken. Thus, after returning back, in a couple of days the dream fades again. The smiling face of the smiling MO (Medical Officer) who taught us such a lot seems like a distant, blurry memory as we get back to the same old path that would lead us to fame and greater financial stability.

This Promise Day let us remember that old promise, that dream which led us to this arduous journey to become doctors and make a vow to fulfill that promise at whichever point in our careers it becomes feasible to do so.

Happy Promise Day.

Photo courtesy: Shuvojyoti Rakshit