RE: PHYSICIAN,HEAL THYSELF

 

This is the titular theme of the recent joint communique released by Joint Health Sector Unions(JOHESU) and Assembly Of Healthcare professionals( AHPA). The paradox of the whole scenario is that Nigerian medical doctors are too busy with their patients and further researches to notice these their belligerent neighbours in the health sector. What do we hear on daily basis? NMA said this and doctors did that. Surprisingly ,my distinguished medical  elders have not joined and are not ready to join  issues with these their bellicose neighbours in the health sector. Is that not enough to tell this amorphous group that NMA is a noble association hence is not ready to reply people who behave and attack NMA  like motor park touts? This  reminds me the day we were about boarding a flight ,my friend mistakenly stepped on a girl .The girl in question started using abusive words on my friend without first politely  drawing my friend's attention to what happened  . I was surprised that my friend totally ignored the girl's existence  and refused replying to her petulant  rant because an adage says that ,' never argue with a fool because people may not know the  difference'.

Disturbed by my friend's indifferent attitude towards the girl's rant  ,I drew my friend's attention to the ongoing abusive words from the girl,my friend surprised me by telling me while ignored the abusive girl was because the girl was not worth his attention .This is exactly what my distinguished medical elders are doing in the health sector. NMA makes her demands to the government without joining issues with these paramedical professionals in the health sector .Let us critically analyse this communiqué which forms the subject of our discourse. First ,they accused NMA and Nigerian doctors of being the reason  why our public officers  embark on medical tourism abroad. To them ,the pathetic state of our health sector is due to the incompetence of doctors hence by their recent communique ,they encourage and advocate that our public office holders should be licensed for medical tourism abroad .What imprudence and impudence  ? I wrote this amorphous group off  the same  day they opposed NMA's call for  public private partnership in  our health sector. This proposed  partnership is unarguably the bedrock of development of other health sectors in the international community .

I want to ask them if it were Nigerian doctors that equally ran down the telecommunication ,power and other sectors of our economy? Was it Nigerian doctors that ran our railway system aground until the twilight of the immediate past administration? Was it the Nigerian doctors that destroyed our Nipost ,Nitel and other government agencies? An  Igbo adage says that it is unfair to leave the anus that farted and give a knock on the head,instead of blaming past governments ,they are busy fighting those that are naturally,culturally,economically,socially,legally,intellectually  and morally ahead of them . Is that not the early symptom of  frustration and maddess?Believe you me,if NMA had come out to suggest that public office holders should be travelling abroad for their medical tourism ,these our belligerent neighbours  would have come out to issue a communique against that .The anti-medical doctors stance of this amorphous group is proverbial  . If NMA comes out to  state obvious fact like the sun rises  in the east and sets in the west,this amorphous  union will fastidiously find a  fault  in that statement of facts.

Why I am concerned is because I have tested both sides of the divide. I got an admission as a paramedical student .In those days I had this rabid hatred for the 'real' medical students. I was the brain behind the agitation that the term 'paramedical' should be replaced with 'Health science' hence paramedical students should be addressed as Health science students even when Oxford English dictionary clearly defined what the term 'paramedical ' meant. I  felt inferior in the gathering of 'real'  medical students . I hated anything pertaining to medicine and Surgery. In those wasted years, if a medical student greeted me,I would say he/she wanted to show off his/her  ego .More so,if he/she did not  greet me,I would simply say he/she was arrogant because of his/her course. Surprisingly,I answered a medical student at home and by extension my friends at home called me 'doctor' in advance even when I knew that my then paramedical course could not lead me to answering a medical doctor  . I continued this deceitful and illusionary life for four years in the paramedical course until one day when I came to my senses and  took a major decision that changed my life forever. That decision is what our belligerent neighbours in the sector have failed to take till date hence the incessant acrimony in the sector.

The decision i took was simple ,I told myself that the highest deceit in life was self deceit. I went further to convince myself that the reason I had the rabid hatred for all medical students was  because I was in a paramedical course hence I saw myself playing a second fiddle to all medical students . I had that inferiority complex in the gathering of medical students, I saw myself being aggressive to medical students just because I felt inferior to them as i was then in the paramedical course. I attacked virtually all that any medical student did or said while within myself I would prefer that I studied medicine. I hate those who had the opportunity of being in the noble course while I secretly I admired the course as I falsely claimed I was a medical student outside the school premises the same way our belligerent neighbours in the sectors claim today in their private lives that they are doctors ,exploiting the high rate of illiteracy in our country to go on and treat patients unrestricted .That is the bane of medical practice in Nigeria.

That decision I painstakingly took after four years in the paramedical course saved my life today as  I finally  changed over to medicine and surgery after wasting four years in the paramedical course. That was the most difficult decision I had taken in this life . Leaving a course I had spent four good years  when my mates were at the verge of graduating , for another course my university would compel me to step down to second year and which students could fail out anytime ,was not an easy decision to make .I accepted that decision because I was clairvoyant . I did not want to continue living in self-deceit for the rest of my life,attacking people that never did or said anything against me ,and at same time falsely claiming to be studying their course when I was outside the university environment . My experience as a paramedical student informed my knowledge today why these people on the other side of the divide in the sector always attack doctors. They have this hidden slogan that ,'whatever NMA or Nigerian doctor says or does is wrong .'

Surprisingly,my keen observation showed that my distinguished medical elders always ignore and avoid joining issues with them . I have not seen any member of my noble  profession or any of our leaders joining issues with these our belligerent neighbours because as my distinguished members will always tell me that we are not in competition with anybody in the sector hence their rants in the sector are not worth our attention . How can somebody explain their recent opposition to the call by NMA that public office holders should  be barred from seeking medical attention abroad?  They went on to back their opposition to this good idea with some specious reasons the same way a citizen who wants to evade payment of  tax will ask what the government has  done for the citizen and gullible minds may easily be deceived with such mendacious reasoning .

I think I will advise them to simply draw inspiration from the personal decision I took many years ago that finally changed my life for good, at least JAMB UTME form is still available in our open market or better still they may as well apply to study medicine and surgery through JAMB Direct Entry programme. This is because had I graduated from the paramedical course, I would have been part of this amorphous group in the sector ,deceiving myself in the sector when I secretly and 'Nichodemously' wished I had been a medical doctor. At times I wonder if the members of this amorphous group are not ashamed of themselves  that despite all their oppositions to whatever NMA says or does, NMA has never joined issues with them because they are not worth NMA 's attention . You cannot see them come out to make their own demand as NMA does ,all they know is issuing a counter communique from whatever NMA says. To me,that is the height of ignorance and madness,attacking somebody that does not know if you exist and somebody who does not respond to your incessant rants.

In the subsequent parts of this write-up I will discuss other contents of their recent  communique .

Dr Paul John
Port Harcourt,
Rivers state.
mazipauljohn@gmail.com
08083658038