Doctors Day Observed 
New Delhi: Tuesday 1 July 2009: To give gratitude to doctors and acknowledging the dedication and commitment of this sector towards society, doctor’s day is celebrated on July 1. First of July happens to be both the birthday and the death anniversary of late Dr B C Roy.  'Doctor's Day' is celebrated in the West on March 30 - the day when Dr Crawford W. Long first used ether anesthesia in surgery.

  
Addressing a gathering of doctors Dr KK Aggarwal President, Heart care Foundation of India and Director, IMA AKN Sinha Institute said that unique thing of medical profession compared to other professions is its commitment for the weaker sections of the society. For this all doctors are morally expected to spend ten percent of their time in charity. This also has been the basis of the government for giving charitable lands at subsidized rates.

More than one lakh prescription errors occur in the US alone. The number is much more in our country. The only way to avoid this is to follow defined guidelines. As far as possible doctors should write prescriptions in capital words and not use abbreviations. For example, giving insulin one should write ‘4 units’ and not ‘4 u’ as 4 u may be misinterpreted as 40 ending up in harming the patient.

Most medical mishaps in the society are medical accidents and not medical negligence. The difference of opinion and error of judgment are not negligence. A doctor is required to possess an average degree of skill and knowledge and not the maximum degree of skill and knowledge. Between doctor and patient there is a duty. Only if there is a breach of this duty resulting into damage it can be called as negligence in the Civil Court.

The profession is observing many challenges as many new epidemics have come in the society and they involve the epidemic of diastolic heart failure, atrial fibrillation, enlarged left atrium, sudden cardiac death, obesity, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome and uncontrolled diabetes.

There are also new advancements in cardiology like biventricular pacing, atrial devices, implantable cardiac defibrillators, etc which now are available in the country and awareness needs to be created both amongst the public as well as the doctors regarding the same.

The public also should reinforce their faith in the doctors and every case of medical mishaps should not be projected to the media without going through a proper enquiry.  

The right communication at the right time can prevent most of the doctor-patient mishaps.