LETTER TO A DOCTOR

29 October, 2014.

Payakaraopeta.

Dear Sri I N Murthy,

I often bring my children to your clinic when they are sick. I believe you are an adequately qualified and talented doctor to help children grow in a healthy and happy manner, advising them the best medicines available and possible and offering reliable treatment whenever necessary. It is difficult to assess the qualities and efficiency of any professional just after a few informal interactions. It is easy to believe in somebody just like that. India is a land of beliefs and loyalty. Indians take much time to believe in somebody and once they repose trust in somebody, they continue that relationship of trust and gratitude forever. Indians are being cheated and misguided by various businessmen now. Doctors are not an exception to this either.

Ordinary Indians are scared to enter a clinic or hospital because they are unable to afford the costs of diagnostic investigations, medicines and surgeries needed for them or for their children. In this context, you came to India to be a children’s doctor, leaving your comfortable zone in the UK. It is true that there is a great need of qualified and talented doctors in Indian towns like Tuni and Payakaraopeta. We cannot rush to Visakhapatnam, Kakinada or Rajahmundry for critical health problems. It demands time and costs of travel. Ordinary people cannot afford it. So, your idea of starting a children’s clinic at Payakaraopeta is not a wrong one. Your present pursuit of starting a hospital is also very appreciable. If you can bring a few qualified and talented specialist doctors to this hospital and earn a reputation for quality service, really the people of this region must be considered lucky. I feel as one of them often because I have easy access to healthcare facilities here.

I like to offer a few pieces of advice to you in this connection, which might help you a little.

Treating Children  

Children are the future of any nation. When we are moving towards old age and resultant departure from this material world, children are the hope of a nation. They grow into adults and turn as the proud human resources and beauty of a land. So, offering service to children means building a nation indirectly. You are playing that great role as a doctor. You must treat children in the following way, whenever they come to your hospital:

1. Find out the accurate health problem of kids and prescribe highly reliable medicines only to them. Ask if some of those children are averse to taking injections. Then suggest alternative tablets, capsules or tonics, if possible. Children are very sensitive. You should advise any medicine thinking from their varied perspectives and status of sensitivities. The moment you love children to this extent, their parents and relatives too feel very happy about you. They are their valuable assets. You must treat them with love, care and sympathy always.

2. Speed is the guiding force of this age. One has to do a lot of things, utilizing limited time available to one. So, you should not waste the time of any of your visitors and their children. You should test them as early as possible, prescribe medicines early, treat them early and send them out early. If you save their time, they feel happy. You should ask them specific questions related to their children only and offer advice or treatment fast. If you expect any of your visitors to wait for long, they develop a wrong impression about you as a doctor and your hospital as a whole. Offer additional advice to any of them only if they ask you out of their interest or curiosity. If you offer advice proactively to somebody, when many are waiting for your time outside, you are actually misusing your time and energy. Most of Indians do not value anything if it is ‘free’.

3. Most of Indians are interested in spending their money for gold, lands and such other assets only but not for their children. They spend and borrow lakhs of rupees to buy gold or a house but never for the health of their children unless it is a medical emergency. So, you must prescribe medicines and treatments to their children considering them as hard-core misers. If an RMP can cure the fever of a child with 100 rupees only in their native village, they prefer him only always instead of a qualified and talented doctor out there in their nearby town or city. They have no time, interest or money to invest for the health of their children. This is why most of Indians are still depending on RMPs in remote areas and villages. So, you must be able to keep their medical and treatment expenses to the least possible. They must be able to cure the health problems of their children with the lowest amount of investment possible. However, educated and rich parents are an exception to this. They spend much money for the health of their children. Before prescribing medicines or treatments, you must consider the financial status and psychological growth of their parents. Make them spend money accordingly.

4. Don’t tell them to go to any particular diagnostic centre for tests. They think you have a business relation with them. Just tell them the types of test reports you need. They get it done somewhere and come back to you soon.

Professional Look

Whether we like it or not, how we look or talk with others certainly does have an impact on our image as a person or professional. Some points to be considered in this regard:

1. You must have a very professional look and outlook. You must look as handsome and impressive as possible. Half of the health problems of children and their parents must be cured just looking at or talking with you in your room. The clothes you wear, the words you use to communicate with them …everything must be with extraordinary standards. You should never sit or behave casually before a visitor to your seat. Behave with them like an influential and disciplined celebrity does. How you look and behave before them in your room deeply impresses their attitude about you. Your manners must be so impressive that they should come to you repeatedly. There should be dignity, empathy and reliability in how you look and what you talk with them. Satisfy them answering all their questions patiently, if you are somewhat free during that time. They must feel that you are a world-class doctor after talking with you for a few seconds. Share your extraordinary knowledge with them when talking with them about their children. People get attracted towards those that have more knowledge than those that have more money. Sharing that hidden knowledge with others is also necessary.

2. Your chair, table and room must be of international standards. The children and their parents should enjoy that ambience. It is not enough if a God is great, the temple in which He is must also be amazing always.

Valuable Information

Most of us face a lot of problems in our lives and professions just because we don’t have the right information about somebody or something when we want it very badly. So, it is good to provide them with valuable information on different aspects of health and preventive care related to children.

1. Make an attractive and quality pamphlet/booklet containing information regarding the various vaccines to be administered to children at various stages of their growth. Inform them the kind of care and precautions they need to take to keep their children healthy and strong always. They feel very happy and grateful to you if you can provide such information to them when they come to your hospital. When you are collecting consultation fee, prescribing medicines, advising medical tests and treatments…they feel you are looting their money. They don’t think that they are doing so for the health and happiness of their children. They feel grateful to you only when they get something very valuable freely in your hospital. An information booklet is one of such facilities you can provide to your visitors. It should have a classic look and represent your high standards as a doctor.

2. You can think if you can offer anything of great value at affordable prices in your hospital. They take it very happily. You must give them a lot, expecting very little money only from them. They must feel that they are getting a treasure from you, spending very little. Think what you can do in this direction for them.

Timings  

Everybody, seeking the services of a doctor, certainly expects reliability of availability of him or her in the suggested clinic or hospital. Consider the following points.

1. Specify the timings and days of your availability at the specified hospital. You must collect consultation fee alike on any day. You should attend emergencies at any point of time, on any day, if you are in town. You should not look money-minded during emergencies expecting them to pay all the charges or costs of surgeries immediately. Try to be as humane, ideal, sympathetic and liberal as possible. Give them a little time to be ready financially to face the situation. Rich ones can pay money in time but poor ones fail in this regard. You should be kind towards them. If you save the health or life of a child, with least possible investment of their time and money, they spread that news to many within days. They do value our sense of standards and values. If you are kind and generous towards them whenever possible, they treat you like God and tell the same to anybody that consults them about such matters. Your ultimate standards as a doctor are, in fact, your publicity material.

2. You should have your breakfast, lunch and supper based on your timings of presence as a doctor at hospital. If you don’t follow timings perfectly, your visitors develop a wrong impression about you. Imagine general public talk about doctors, “Nobody knows when he/she comes or goes!” You should not have such image.

Reception

Just like the value of a family or their house is assessed based on how that homemaker or arrangement of goods looks, the value of a hospital or doctor also is largely influenced by the look of reception and receptionists present there. So, you should take ultimate care about these arrangements in your hospital.

1. The receptionist should look very pleasing and kind to all visitors and children that come to your hospital. They should look and feel healthy, receptive, sympathetic, empathetic, sensitive and educated.

2. He/she should be able to communicate efficiently in Telugu, English and Hindi over phone or face-to-face.

3. He/she should be able to use computer well and store all data online and offline.

4. The ambience in reception should look very beautiful, standard and impressive.

5. Receptionist should never use vulgar and offensive language addressing anybody in the premises of hospital. Even if a drunkard is making nonsense at her place, she/he should be able to speak something like ‘please take that gentleman out peacefully and carefully’. Others may be indecent but we should be able to be decent even towards them in testing conditions also. Receptionist should have a lot of patience, kindness and decency.

6. Receptionist should have a lot of knowledge about medicines, injections, vaccines, children, hospital and present trends in the medical world. Receptionist is like a priest at a temple. If doctor is like God in a hospital, a patient reaches that God through the medium of receptionist. How she/he looks, talks and works does have a lot of influence on the image of the doctor working there. She should be able to advise visitors on many aspects related to health and preventive care related to children. Visitors ask him/her various questions on how to take medicines and other things related to children. She must be able to answer them intelligently, professionally and patiently. So, it’s good if you can take one with extensive medical knowledge and communicative skills for this position. She must update her knowledge regularly about medical care and advancements in this field.

Hospital/Clinic

In Indian hospitals/clinics/nursing homes, what we find is uncleanliness and disorder everywhere, even in corporate hospitals at times. They throw rubbish somewhere and keep things in a disorderly manner. You must take the following measures to keep your hospital very good as far as sanitation and discipline are concerned.

1. Chairs meant for visitors and children must be very beautiful, hygienic and orderly.

2. Silence must be maintained as much as possible throughout the hospital except inevitable sounds of children.

3. Classical music might be played inside the hospital where visitors and other staff move. All those that are coming to this hospital must feel a divine sensation listening to that inspiring instrumental music. Music has power of healing. If the music being played in your hospital heals and soothes the psyches of those creatures for a few moments at least, they remember that ambience for long, even after going out of your hospital. The memories of the staff and ambience in your hospital should chase them, wherever they are. Think how you can make your hospital heavenly from this perspective. Everybody likes to be entertained and respected by others. Why should not you think on how to please all your visitors differently in your hospital?

4. Hygienic drinking water, toilets and medical store facilities earn a lot of reputation for any hospital. Ensure that you maintain them to the highest degree of perfection and order. Your visitors, patients and children might be innocent and ignorant creatures of God. You are a qualified, talented and intelligent doctor. If you add kindness and idealism also to these traits of you, you can win the hearts of Indians fast. Do the best possible to make them feel happy, satisfied and honoured in your hospital and in your presence. They should feel that they are in a world-class hospital as long as they are in your abode of healing. Even the doctors in your facility should have such high standards and values as professionals. You should guide them in that perfect path always.  

Ownership of Hospital  

Others do not think and act like you when you delegate the responsibility of your hospital to them because they did not invest their money in it. They work like selfish business partners only but not as an owner of that entity. So, it is better if you own and run this hospital. It’s your unit. Make it beautiful and dependable for all those that come to and talk about it. You must spend considerable time, money and thoughts on improving its standards.

UK/India

Since you served in the UK once, you need to decide whether to stay back in India or to move to that place again. The following points help you in taking a good decision in this regard.

1. Service to humanity is service to God. In Tuni and Payakaraopeta, there is more need of doctors like you than in that country. If ultimate service to children is your motto, you must stay back in India. It takes time to earn reputation for yourself and your hospital. You must wait and acquire that status slowly.

2. When you think that comfort in life and earning in an easy manner are your goals, the UK would be the best option. You need not struggle much to do anything differently there. It is enough if you deliver your services as any doctor does there. But, after 10 years, if you question yourself about what you did for others substantially, the answer would be disappointing. You appear as a commercially oriented doctor if you work in the UK. If you work in India, despite problems and stress in educating and serving Indians slowly, you feel satisfied in future also because your services are highly needed here. Your stay in India has a noble purpose unlike in the UK.

Publicity

You can/should promote awareness about the uniqueness of your hospital until it earns a reputation of its own through word-of-mouth of your satisfied service recipients. You can consider the following:

1. Print and distribution of pamphlets through paperboys specifying the attractions of your hospital.

2. Local radio and television media.

3. Ads in newspapers occasionally.

4. A classic website showing what you do and kinds of services/facilities available in your hospital.

Conclusion

Your hospital might be a successful venture if you meet the following requirements.

1. You offer extraordinary services to all of your service seekers through your hospital.

2. Your hospital and the doctors working there are of high standards and values.

3. You have patience, hard-working nature and vision in developing your hospital.

4. You treat all with due respect, professional outlook, sympathetic attitude and affection.

5. Service is your primary goal and profits and commercial success are your secondary goals.

6. You are ready to serve others, at any point of time, on any day, if you are in town.

7. You educate parents and children that come to you, out of your kindness for them.

8. You like your profession and offer the best as a doctor, not minding the status of your service seekers.

9. Other doctors and hospitals in this region must find you and your hospital unique in many ways.

10. You regularly collect feedback from your service seekers and improve your standards accordingly.

11. There are considerable facilities in your hospital to meet emergency cases also, which cannot be handled in other clinics/hospitals in Tuni or Payakaraopeta.

12. You are able to attract educated and rich service seekers also letting them know that you and your hospital are different from those available here.

13. Visiting your hospital and talking with the doctors there is a divine experience to visitors.

Hope these points of discussion help you a little in understanding Indians and the kind of service you need to offer them in course of time to win their love and respect.

Sincerely,

Datla Chiranjeevi Raju.