July 1 2012 is Doctor’s Day. Call your doctor or your doctor friends and wish them a Happy Doctor’s Day. Medicine is a noble profession. Among all professions, medicine is the only profession which can be regarded as next to God.
“Doctors treat, but God heals” is a well-known saying. Doctors thus serve as the messengers of God. A doctor cannot refuse treatment. It is a doctor’s duty to attend to a patient in emergency regardless of caste, creed, race or the financial status of the person.
This principle has been very well-personified in our mythology too. Ramayana cites the story of Vaidya Sushen, who treated Lakshmana with the famed Sanjivani booti. He was called to see the unconscious Lakshmana during the war between Lord Rama and Ravana. Despite the fact that he was a royal physician in the kingdom of Ravana, Sushen made the decision of treating Lakshmana. This illustrates the ethical duties of a physician. Likewise, if a person sentenced to death by hanging falls ill, it is the duty of a physician to treat him until the day of his hanging.
The concept of Family Physician or the General Practitioner of the olden times is fast vanishing in this age of super specialization. Every day new specialties are coming up. What was once the domain of a family physician has been now divided among different specialties. This has created a gap in communication between patient and doctor often leading to litigations. To avoid this, look for a Family Physician, who will be your guide in all health matters and also coordinate your care when specialists are involved.