Today we talk to Dr Suresh Dhumale, the Head of Emergency Services and Medical Education of Healthspring. Having studied and practiced in the US, he shares with us his insights on medical care in today's world.
Q.1 Dr Dhumale tell us a little
about yourself?
My career has been in phases. I
started my career as a General surgeon,
then a plastic surgeon, finally an emergency physician and now a family
physician.
Q.2 How did you make that leap
from Emergency Medicine to Family Medicine?
I remember one incident which
happened on Christmas eve in the US while I was the attending doctor in the ER.
It was 2 am in the morning and a young 17 year old boy was involved in an accident.
Despite our best efforts to revive him he passed away. It was my job to call
the family and tell them to rush to the hospital where their son was critical.
My own son was in college at the time and I realized how earth shattering this
news was. When I did tell them in person about their son, I kept thinking to
myself ‘someone should have told this boy not to drink and drive.’ Their family
doctor should have been counselling this kid. And I thought to myself someday
when I can, I would work in family medicine.
Q.3 What in your opinion makes a
good family physician?
A good family physician should
first be a truly good person. And by that I mean he should be skilled as well
as kind, understanding and communicative.
Q.4 Why do you think we have a
shortage of good family physicians?
Medicine has evolved from a
vocation to a business. So much of it has been commercialized and as a result few
truly “good” family doctors have remained.
Q.5 How is Healthspring changing
the field of family medicine?
Healthspring is bringing good family
medicine back. Our vision is to provide international level quality health care
to all our patients. We are not interested in just episodic care, but in a scientific
and holistic care of the people who have put their trust in us.
Q.6 How do you envision the
future for family medicine?
Oh, it’s going to grow phenomenally,
especially once people realize that preventive care is safer, more effective
and easier than chronic care. And when
they do realize that this field of medicine is to their advantage, they will
definitely shape the future of family medicine in a way we cannot even imagine
today.
I agree with Dr Dhumale's views on family medicine.Family medicine or primary health care in India is at present primarily neglected.Improvement in primary care could work wonders if practiced ethically.It may reduce the burden of cost incurred on treatment by an individual / family / country directly or indirectly if essential primary care is offered & practiced according to international standards.Unnecessary hospitalizations / investigations / medications will reduce the financial burden of the vast majority of the population in India substantially if primary care standards are upgraded & promoted.
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