Ian C. Ellul

These last 2 months I have been suffering from bilateral arm noctural paresthesia. Probably it is tunnel carpal syndrome, they have told me, but I am awaiting for an EMG examination to check out matters. Not exactly what I have wished for in my New Year Resolution, so I took refuge yet again in one of Paolo Coelho books … The devil and Mrs Pyrm. For those of you who never heard of this Brazilian songwriter-turned-author (he also wrote The Alchemist, recently also translated in Maltese), they are missing much. His writings are a man’s spiritual journey … the particular novel which I am currently reading explores the timeless struggle between good and evil, and brings to our everyday dilemmas a fresh perspective: how we can be incentived to master the fear that prevents us from following our dreams, from being different, from truly living.

 

Indeed as I read this book, I reflect, as I always do when I read Coelho’s books. Indeed, as years are beginning to etch their markings on me, I am becoming more aware of how stupid we can be when our pursuit of money turns from simply a need to a want. We start to forget what we are and what being a human being really means. We may start to  neglect our spouses, our children, our ethical standards … all because of money and lust … indeed I strongly believe that we as healthcare professionals have an obligation towards others, not simply by offering a service for which we are paid but also by offering our time and resources free of charge to help others and to pursue our ideals. I admire mostly those healthcare professionals who involve themselves on a voluntary basis in patient support groups (obviously excluding those who do so to increase their clientele).

                                                                                                   

A recent group worth mentioning is the Professionals against Embryo Freezing. Obviously not all of you may agree with their agenda but obviously everyone will agree that this group is indeed extraordinary. To put it simply, various professionals including doctors, pharmacists and dentists have joined their grey matter together, forming a group over a very short time (2 weeks) to pursue an ideal. And this is what I admire most of them. Not only because of their impeccable division of labour coordinated by Dr Miriam Sciberras. But because seeing this inter and intra-professional cooperation rekindles my hope that there are still healthcare professionals who indeed are ready to contribute part of their time free of charge to pursue something which is an ideal for them.

 

Hopefully we will see more of these professional groups pursuing more ideals … those very ideals which are the very foundations of our noble and respected medical professional including beneficence, non-maleficence and justice …          

 

Over the past years The Synapse has offered free advertising space to various patient support groups. These have submitted articles on their terms of reference with some also advertising conferences and other fund raising events. However a recent tool introduced by The Synapse Website portal should be of particular benefit to them (and to other healthcare professionals practicing in other fields), namely these patient groups may reach directly peers by uploading their events online –   http://www.thesynapse.net/events/list.asp. And what is even more convenient is that this is also free 🙂