Opinion

Medicine in the here and now

Isn't it amazing the stuff you read nowadays about 'two-tiered' healthcare, 'chequebook medicine,' MRI waiting lists and other jingo slogans used by politicians who promise to 'fix' everything once they're elected?

As a physician, I'm not impressed by these promised solutions. We certainly can't afford to wait until 'everything is fixed'! The trick is to carry on in the moment.

While the financial issues are always first on the table, little is ever said about the practical and emotional adjustments that the actual practitioners of medicine make on a daily basis. If we, the medical and nursing staff, did not make things happen the system would be even more dysfunctional. We are constantly adjusting and readjusting our schedules to keep up with a limitless workload, spending volumes of time 'prioritizing' consults and procedures by 'bumping' patients back and forth to accommodate urgent cases. This brings us under the direct line of fire from understandably dissatisfied patients. But where are the politicians and bureaucrats to defend us then?

Small wonder, then, that frustration creeps in. A frustrated physician is not as effective � and maintaining our professional enthusiasm becomes crucial not only for the welfare of the patients, but also for our own well-being. While there is nothing we can do to address the immediate problems of manpower, finances, etc, we can and must put our skills into action to achieve a balance between work style and lifestyle which will generate health and serenity.

Nobody else will do this for us. Certainly not the politicians.

� Dr Arni Sekar, Ottawa

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