Why I like Gals? Coz They Are...

(24-Aug-08)

I still remember a doc of my childhood, who was a general physician. He only had the basic medical qualification like MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery). This qualification is equivalent to the Doctor of Medicine or MD in the US and some other countries (here in India, MD is a Masters degree which is to be taken after MBBS). In the present day scenario, docs with MBBS don’t dare do any surgery and they refer surgical cases to specialist surgeons. But that doc used to do almost all general surgeries.

Today there are lots of specialists. Some people, who believe in a holistic approach, say there is too much specialization. But I think its coz the science is developing very fast and hence there is lots of scope for specialization. Well, that is not where I want to put my head into. The quality aspect of these ‘professionals’ these days.

Here, almost every old temple is an architectural wonder and I wonder how many of the modern architects can do such a work. This deterioration is seen in every field, especially in teaching field in professional colleges. This happens coz those who are good prefer to practice than teach. I think this will be the case in most part of the world, especially in Medicine and Information Technology field. For example, a fresh computer science professional can earn many times more than a lecturer....so why should one teach?

So, there is a quality issue here. Sometimes it really surprises me, the ignorance of some people in their respective fields.

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I wasn’t doing any physiotherapy for my knees coz of two reasons. The new doc did not ask me to consult their physiotherapist and then I fell ill (they wont do current/sonic/shortwave therapies when there is fever). So, I met the orthopedic doc again to discuss about the progress and the scope of physiotherapy at this stage. I had some disagreements with him, but he is a qualified doc and I am not. And we don’t know each other well. He is not a type who likes to explain things and I did not like that, naturally.

“I still have pain” me

“Still? Let me see….where?” doc

“here”

“here? I see, that’s a bone”

(“well I don’t care what it is….don’t tell me that I developed some bone related issues”) me in my mind

“so, should I go for a physiotherapy like ICT and Ultrasonic?” me

From his face, I read that he did not like me suggesting what to do…and I did not say any sorry…

“Yes, it helps. I will put you under physiotherapy for a short period”

He wrote Short Wave Diathermy and Ultrasound….but he did not suggest ICT/IFT which is very effective in healing ligament injuries like what I am suffering from (LCL tear/strain).

I met the therapist. A talkative guy who thinks I should have started therapy bit earlier. I asked him whether he know why the doc did not suggest ICT. He asked me in return:

“ICT? What is that? Traction? You don’t need that”

“ICT is not traction, its Interferential Current Therapy”

(“ you fool you don’t even know what ICT is?”)

“That is not ICT but IFT..that is not used for injuries like this…what the doc wrote is the right treatment for this”

(“you fool, you go and learn the uses of ICT..”)

I realized that I am with a wrong guy. Ligament strains respond well with current therapy and I have experienced it. And when he started doing ultrasonic, it was confirmed that he is not good at his job. I had an impression that men might be better than women at this field and he proved me wrong. He did some of his ‘skills’ and asked:

“How is the pain now?”

“I think when you do that, I get more pain”

Still I can’t believe that a qualified therapist can use such a machine in a nonsense way. Every one of the therapists (all ladies) with my old doc knew how to use it properly. I never used to get pain (coz of therapy) and some of them were friendly with me and hence I had asked lots of questions about that therapy and how it works, how to use it and all. But this guy !

He might have thought that I don’t know anything about this stuff and he is an expert. I thought that might give him an edge over me and he wont change his attitude. So I told him:

“One of my friends is a physiotherapist, he works with the defense hospital…I happened to talk to him and he said they use ICT or IFT or whatever, in such situations…”

“Oh really? He might have understood it in a different way….. He has got a nice job then…it’s a central government job”

So, he is interested in that guy’s position!

(02-sep-08)

I knew that there is one more therapist, a lady. I decided to meet her one day to check how good she is with her job. Luckily for me, this guy went on leave and thus I had no choice but to fix an appointment with her.

Her approach was bit surprising. I was telling myself ‘don’t tell bad things about that guy to her’. When she kept the diathermy pads properly, I asked her:

“so this is the way it is to be done?”

“yes, what happened?”

“but that guy wasn’t doing it this way”

and I showed her how he did that. And I saw she smiling and shaking her head in disagreement. And then the ultrasound. I was waiting for it and she did not hurt me at all. I could not help telling her:

“am not making any complaint against him, but he used to press very hard and finally my bones started paining”

And I explained to her what happened. At the end, she gave me her card and told me:

“if you have any problem, just call me… you can come and consult me directly..”

She evaluated my injury and extended the period of therapy and all my happiness got wiped out when she said:

“you need to keep away from badminton and such physical activities for the next three months”

“THREE MONTHS?”

“yes, what happened?”

“Nothing! I just…I mean I never expected that”