Storytellers

Genuine concern for the patient Vijay Gopichandran If you ask me what is the single most important characteristic that defines a good doctor, it is the genuine concern and interest that the doctor has for his/her patient. In this blog, I will describe why I think that the ‘genuine interest’ in the patient is the most important trait for a doctor, more than even technical skills and knowledge. I had a patient last month in my clinic who was suffering from very bad oral ulcers. These ulcers were painful and were preventing her from eating even the blandest food. She came to me in tears, asking for help so that she can start eating again. With the help of a dermatologist friend, we diagnosed that the lady had oral lichen planus. The definitive treatment for this condition is to give oral steroid cream. I prescribed this cream to the lady, but unfortunately, the cream was not available in any pharmacy in the nearby town. She went to the nearest district headquarters which is...

The importance of reviewing patients’ medicines Vijay Gopichandran Over the past few weeks, I have seen several patients all whose problems could be fixed easily with just a tweaking of their prescription list. I am writing this blog to share these experiences to highlight the importance of a review of the patients’ medication lists. Nowadays many patients, especially senior patients, are on multiple medicines. It is not uncommon to find a senior who is on five to ten tablets per day, for their diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol and other conditions. Such a condition where patients are on multiple medicines is referred to as polypharmacy. The World Health Organization in its recent report on Polypharmacy has highlighted the growing incidence of polypharmacy in many countries due to an aging population and increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases. The report also highlights that the important steps to be undertaken to avoid adverse reactions due to polypharmacy are...