Advice To New Thai Medical Graduates: Treat Patients ' As You Would Your Relatives'

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MEDICAL PRACTICE
Treat patients 'as you would your relatives'
Pongphon Sarnsamak
The Nation

Council official offers advice to new medical graduates

BANGKOK: -- Stepping into the career world is a daunting prospect for most new graduates, but those from medical schools face an especially tough time. Once at hospitals, fresh graduates take charge of not just the health but also the lives of their patients.

Hanging over them is also the threat of lawsuits. About 200 patients or their family members complained of medical malpractice last year, says the Medical Council, adding that most were due to misunderstandings.

Over the past decade, the Public Health Ministry has faced about 100 medical malpractice lawsuits, with victims seeking a combined Bt456 million in compensation.

The council's deputy secretary, Dr Ittiporn Kanacharoen, said all medical students should therefore be aware of the laws and regulations related to their profession in order to avoid legal trouble. In some cases, legal battles involve not just compensation, but also criminal suits.

He was speaking at a special session held by Chulalongkorn University for all 270 of its sixth-year medical students last month.

"But the best advice is that all doctors should treat their patients as they would treat their relatives," Ittiporn said.

Teaching at Chulalongkorn, Dr Amphon Suamphan also emphasised the need for doctors to use their heart at their workplace.

"Just know how to give mercy to yourself, then you will know how make other people happy and provide treatment for them from your heart," said the outstanding psychiatrist.

Amphon said that when doctors felt happy, their efficiency would increase and the risk of human error would be reduced. "If they are not happy, how can they make other people happy?" he added. Kasem Seresirikachorn, who will soon work as a doctor, said he was not worried about legal threats, as he believed most lawsuits stemmed from misunderstandings.

"If doctors and patients are close, the risk of lawsuits will be very low," he said.

He is determined to help all patients to the utmost of his ability, and therefore feels there is nothing he should worry about in terms of legal action.

Medical student Thitikarn Phoungkaew, 24, said she would be heading back to her hometown of Rayong to serve the medical needs of locals there soon.

Her dream was always to be a forensic doctor who would determine the exact cause of death and play a role in seeking justice for murder victims.

"Many people think I am strange for choosing to work with dead bodies. To them, the smell is unpleasant and the scenes are disgusting," Thitikarn said, adding, "But to me, someone must do this important job."

The student revealed that she in fact used be afraid of ghosts, but after working with dead bodies time and again, she finds nothing can daunt her now.

Nine years ago, Thitikarn found the inspiration to become a doctor after watching the movie "Moh Jeb" ("The Extern"), which portrayed the lives of unusual medical students.

"The movie was so funny; I really liked it. I watched it several times and was finally convinced I wanted to be a doctor," she said.

Thitikarn was awarded a scholarship from a hospital in Rayong to study at Chulalongkorn. After her graduation, she has to go back to her hometown and work at the local hospital for 12 years under the terms of the scholarship.

But to fulfil her dream of becoming a forensic doctor, which is the medical field in which there is the greatest shortage of doctors, she will ask her scholarship grantor to allow her to continue her education so she can improve her specialised skills and knowledge of forensic science.

"I plan to go back to my hometown and work there for my whole life, but I need more knowledge to improve my skills in order to establish the truth from a dead body, and that is why I have to continue my education at a higher level," she said.

For the younger generation, she said becoming a doctor required patience and compliance with the medical code of conduct if they were truly going to help people.

"Just think about the first day you stepped into medical school and you realised that there were so many patients waiting for us."


-- The Nation 2013-04-29

[NongKhaiKid]

This mirrors a story from Britain a couple of weeks ago that student nurses were having to be taught patient care and a bedside manner as too many were only interested in the academic side of their job to get better qualified and move on to positions with higher salaries. The report indicated the standard of old style nursing care had fallen badly.

[bigbamboo]

This mirrors a story from Britain a couple of weeks ago that student nurses were having to be taught patient care and a bedside manner as too many were only interested in the academic side of their job to get better qualified and move on to positions with higher salaries. The report indicated the standard of old style nursing care had fallen badly.

Or the story of the cardinal who asked a colleague what he should do as he felt he could no longer truthfully justify his belief in God to others.

" Then lie."

[DocN]

Treat patients 'as you would your relatives'

...and let the patient hope, that by "relative" you don't mean your farang brother -in- law....

[tomyummer]

I think it's more appropriate to say "treat patients as you would high government officials in Thailand" where you would be scared shitless to mess up for fear of your life and the lives of your immediate family or a huge award if you save their lives. Thai retribution healthcare.

[Locationthailand]

Doctors graduate to help people in need of help. That is why they undertake the job. It's only when hospital management starts dictating numbers and procedures the wheels come off. Not saying some of the malpractice is not misdiagnosis but in the numbers treated daily, it is not even a percentile of 1%. It is a micro percentile of 1%. And when will hospitals start prescribing one drug not three at every consultation? That is because the hospitals pharmacy is a huge profit centre and in most cases two are placebos of no affect on the illness. It is a scam so let the doctors prescribe what is necessary, not rip off the patients at the hospitals direction.

[Ianatlarge]

How about treating patients as human beings, not as relatives, and nor as "profit centres". And, lets look at the issue of preventative medicine.

[tomross46]

The graduates are good, until the money hungry hospital administrators get involved. Last week I my son to Ake Pathum Hospital klong 2 on highway 305, at 2300 hours. The ER staff was very good and professional, and the administrators were very good also.

I have been to a hospital on soi 3 Sukhumvit, which are money hungry. They are running a hospital for the rich middle east tourist.

[atyclb]

The graduates are good, until the money hungry hospital administrators get involved. Last week I my son to Ake Pathum Hospital klong 2 on highway 305, at 2300 hours. The ER staff was very good and professional, and the administrators were very good also.

I have been to a hospital on soi 3 Sukhumvit, which are money hungry. They are running a hospital for the rich middle east tourist.

Even doctors working there complain about too much pressure to sell, sell, sell. once I went there (soi3) and got a prescription and the doctor pressured me a lot to purchase the complete course at their hospital pharmacy. I said I'd fill it at my local pharmacy but more sales pitch. Then I asked her why it is so iportant to fill it there. She said "because you use our facility" I replied; yes and I pay dearly for that already. She ran out of pitches. Its almost like those "touts" that bug tourists but on a completely different level.

[MikeOboe57]

So how does P4P fit into that concept?