The difficult times amid COVID-19 have once again reminded us about the contributions and sacrifices made by doctors and the healthcare staff around the globe on a daily basis. In honour of this noble profession, Doctor’s Day is celebrated on different dates across the world.
India celebrates the day on July 1 as ‘National Doctor’s Day’ and it’s organised by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) annually. This year is once again dedicated to all those doctors and healthcare professionals who are serving in these trying times by risking their lives either in primary as well as secondary care setups or in dedicated COVID care facilities.
Wishing for all the doctors to stay healthy and safe, Dr Rajat Agrawal, Additional Director and HOD, Critical Care, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi, marked the day by saying, “I wish all my colleagues best wishes on the occasion of Doctor’s Day and hope they remain healthy and safe to serve the humanity in the coming times for far greater challenges which may lie ahead.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on doctors and paramedic staff as well because even they lost their close family members to the virus. This was all at the peak of the second wave and kudos to their spirit and dedication that they continued to work untiringly in the hour of crisis.
Managing a critically ill COVID patient in ICU is physically, mentally and emotionally very demanding for a doctor. As per NIH (National Institute of Health), USA data doctors working in critical care have the highest burnout rate amongst all specialties. Doctors have to show empathy towards patients and their relatives while also detaching themselves emotionally to work in a professional manner.As the pandemic brought ICUs on the frontline, the health infrastructure became more focused on ramping up critical care facilities in all hospitals nationwide. The economic aspect of keeping a patient in ICU has an impact on the relatives of the patient. Doctors deal with all these problems on a regular basis.Once a patient is discharged after recovery and when they come for follow-up consultation in a stable condition, nothing gives more pleasure to a doctor than the happy smiling person in front of them. It makes all the sweat and toil worthwhile.‘National Doctor’s Day’ in India commemorates the iconic and internationally renowned medical practitioner, Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy who served as a physician, a freedom fighter, an educationist and a politician. There can be no better time to remember the doctor whose story is that of hard work, grit, talent, determination despite racial discrimination, love for his country and unmatched dedication for his profession. He was an eminent physician and the second chief minister of West Bengal for 14 years, from 1948 till his death in 1962.Dr J. A. Jayalal, President, IMA, recently during ‘Mann ki Baat’ said, “All the medical fraternity doing human service during the COVID pandemic is celebrating July 1 as Doctors Day in remembrance of the veteran service of Dr. B.C. Roy. He assured that doctors should be respected, protected and safeguarded.”Further talking about Dr Roy’s thoughts on vaccination, he said, “He also emphasised the need of vaccination and that by not taking vaccine you are putting the family in trouble. So, he asked people to eliminate the fear and come forward to take the vaccination.”
He concluded his thoughts by expressing gratitude for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of vaccinating individuals above the age of 18, and added, “We thank PM’s assurance that all the people above the age of 18 in this country will be able to get vaccinated in due time.”
If people did not recognise the importance of doctors before, they are certainly learning just how much they contribute to society, amid the coronavirus pandemic. While we are self-isolating, it is the doctors who are constantly fighting for the lives of people who have been infected with the deadly virus.Doctor’s Day celebration is truly an attempt to accentuate their importance and to show our gratitude by commemorating one of their greatest representatives.
