Letters to the editor
Medicine and ethics
Sir,
The other day I was reading an online medical journal where I found an ethical quote from Padmashri Prof. Dr. P. V. A. Mohandas, founder of the Madras Institute of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (M.I.O.T), Chennai, India which I would like to reproduce here with the hope that learned physicians of our country would take a note of it. The quote was: Medicine is not a trade; it is a calling where the physician thinks not only with his head, but also with his heart. Padmashri Prof. Dr. P. V. A. Mohandas
I strongly feel a physician should patiently listen to the problems of a patient and treat the patient with assuring words, affection and sympathy. In our country, one would find some physicians telling an elderly patient As youre old there is no effective treatment or your immune system has become weak or this is your psychological problem, etc., etc. The physician should realise that the Creator has blessed them with some special skills and status and they have a sacred responsibility upon their shoulder to treat the patients to the best of their ability and with total dedication and sincerity.
Professor M Zahidul Haque
Department of Agricultural Extension Information System
Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University
Dhaka
