Would we disagree if it is said that at least once, at some point of our lives we were helped by a Doctor in coming out of an illness or from state of being unwell and regain our “healthy” status.

The progression of science, technology and its implementation into medical practices by Doctors have improved and helped lives of millions across the world and as we speak here; there are millions of others getting treated or cured by medical professionals.

On this Doctor’s Day, OoWomaniya being a platform that connects females having health issues and queries with Doctors and Counselors for a personalized clinical advice and guidance –  wants to appreciate this noble profession of medicine and healthcare. A good doctor is not just your medical help but also a counselor, a friend, a guide and a confidante for your emotional and mental problems or concerns that you may come across in your life.

We want to draw attention on crucial challenges these doctors encounter day in, day out along with the critical responsibility of saving people’s lives or an attempt to make people’s lives better and healthier.

• Dr. Anita Shukla (Gynecologist/Obstetrician)

My biggest concern for the Doctors’ Community is the violence happening against the Doctors in India. Over 75% of doctors have faced violence of some sort at work, especially doctors working in emergency units. We doctors are at times verbally threatened and even physically abused and thrashed. Ultimately, we are doctors, we are humans too. Recently, a doctor in Delhi was attacked because the patient had a natural miscarriage. People today have shaken faith in their doctor and do blame them on irrational basis. This is one of the reasons; we doctors have now become very conscious in medico-legal aspects.

• Dr. Shefali Desai (Breast Care Specialist and Surgeon)

Being in the domain of Breast Care, I get many patients who have breast cancer or who come with symptoms indicating a potential risk of malignant breast cancer. Still, I face lot of challenge in making my patients understand the gravity of health issue they have and that how much getting treated is important for them. This is majorly due to lack of awareness and education among people, that they do not understand that the earlier they diagnose or treat their health issue, the better are their chances of survival and getting better. Sometimes, even money or financial condition is also not an issue. They simply discontinue their treatment or don’t turn up for their check-ups under one pretext or other because they fail to understand the seriousness of the issue. Maybe, with better awareness, some day we would be able to deal with this challenge.

• Dr. Shital Punjabi (Gynecologist, Infertility & IVF Specialist)

Unfortunately, we do have scenario where many medical professionals have been involved in shameful medical malpractices. This makes the situation difficult for honest and committed doctors too. Winning the trust of the patients even while we are trying to give the right diagnosis and treatment has become a challenge. Authenticity of the treatment and our intentions are questioned. As I am in IVF, one more challenge I face is that many childless couples come to us patients – who are not very financially sound, are aged, with very high hopes of conceiving a child or getting a baby, but the treatment is very costly. IVF or infertility treatment is not funded by government, even insurance doesn’t provide any relief which makes us very difficult for us to help them even after subsidizing our treatment costs.

• Dr. Ajith Chakravarthy (Sexologist)

We doctors are clouded by over expectations by the patients. There is lot of scientific approach that doctors implement when a patient comes to us with their health issue. In certain terminal situations doctors cannot also save a patient or cure an ailment. Secondly, patients now have started seeing all doctors with suspicious eye because the media hype, the greedy commercialization of medical treatments services of small percentage of doctors.

One needs to understand that just like there are good and bad people in every profession, there are good and bad people in healthcare services too. Just as much we need to curb medical malpractices in our country, we also need to skim through the credible, skilled, experienced and honest Doctors who would always do as best as they can for their patients and the society.