Ian C. Ellul

Very unfortunately last month I was informed that three doctors have been diagnosed with cancer.

 

What are your first thoughts when you hear that someone you do not know has fallen seriously ill, example cancer? And when you do know that person, be it family or a colleague, does this change your feelings?

Everyone agrees that any illness is taxing on both the physical and mental wellbeing of the patient and the immediate family alike; let alone a serious one. Following the diagnosis, the patient faces most important considerations, ranging from treatment decisions to life-style changes. Such considerations always take a more bleak perspective when one has dependents, including elderly parents or young children.

In reality, little imagination is needed to put yourself in the shoes of a colleague who has just been struck by illness. Simply imagine that you wake up tomorrow and realise that you cannot open your clinic because the day before you have been diagnosed with a debilitating condition which warrants urgent treatment, locally or abroad. What are your thoughts? The previous day you were juggling treatment options for your patients, chores and trying to squeeze some quality time with your partner, whilst earning a decent solid income and … today …

In such a situation, apart from physical and financial woes, we seem to anchor ourselves to the question ‘Why me?’, rather than ‘Why not me?’ and this causes us to experience extensive psychological distress … do you imagine yourself asking whether you will actually die, whether you need to make/change your will, where the money needed to drag oneself forward will come from? Would you question whether you will now lose your patients? Would you have any regrets, maybe about skipping that endoscopy some months ago because you have been docked at your clinic? And would it really have mattered if you had closed your clinic for a single evening to do those tests which you so strongly advocate to your patients? I will not delve into the various barriers which doctors experience when accessing health care, including embarrassment and time; these have been aptly described by Kay et al.1 However, what is most important, the authors have highlighted the importance of overcoming these system barriers by the profession as a whole.

In view of this, three years ago, the 1984 medical graduates got together and set up a bank account whereby colleagues from the same graduation year were invited to contribute to help a seriously ill colleague. That proved to be a crucial helpline and the person is now back on his feet.

Although limited, the principal lesson learnt from the organisation of this campaign can be summed up in the words of the late Mattie Stepanek … “Unity is strength … when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.”

The same group of doctors met recently to discuss what can be done when any doctor is affected by the same misfortune. Obviously, if the experience has to be extended to the whole medical profession, a much wider group of colleagues is required.

So, is it time to establish a permanent medical solidarity mechanism? If you are interested or would like to discuss issues/experiences please get in touch with the group on medicalsolidarity@thesynapse.net. Thank you.

True compassion means not only feeling another’s pain … but also being moved to help relieve it (Daniel Goleman)

 

Reference

1. Kay M, Mitchell G, Clavarino A, Doust J. Doctors as patients: a systematic review of doctors’ health access and the barriers they experience. Br J Gen Pract. 2008;58(552):501-8.