Sunday and Inauguration Of a Dental Clinic
Posted : November 28, 2005 at 10:55 am [IST]
Right in morning, I got a call from a doctor who invited me to the inauguration of his dental clinic in our sector itself. I didn’t know this young doctor. It was Mr. Arora, my friend, who had asked him to call me, as I ma also from Bihar as the doctor is. Dr. Rajan Sharma introduced himself. He is from Madhubani with ancestral link to Bhagalppur. Normally, I would not have gone, but then Arora pulled me. I made Yamuna also agree to join me. We went there to his clinic that was very near to Mr. Arora’s residence, and found many known faces. I was in my jovial mood and cut some jokes about dentists. Dr. Rajan Sharma is a dentist working with W.H.O. His wife, Dr. Amrita Roy is also a dentist and consultant in a nearby hospital. Have you noticed how the doctor wife has maintained her paternal title? If they had kept a single word name as I keep on suggesting, there would not have been any problem and would not have required an official legal change, unless it is part of women lib scheme.
By the time we were there, the formal red tape (?) cutting part of inauguration was over. We got our share of sumptuous snacks in packets. I did wnet in to see the clinical. The doctor has got his wonderfully beautiful and naturally patient- and doctor-friendly dentist chair imported. I found the engineer who has fixed it there. As usual, I asked why can’t it be manufactured in India. And then as usual a discussion followed on lack of scale in manufacturing and my emphasis to use flexible manufacturing system for one -off customized product with input from IT experts of the country to make the product the best and cost competitive. Finally perhaps either bcause of my logics or out of disgust, the engineer agreed.
Dr. Rajan Sharma’s parents as well as in-laws are all doctors. His father works on his own after leaving government job, but mother is still working in government hospital. His mother was well dressed for the occasion, but his father was just simple rather ill dressed. But it was interesting to talk to him. He wants to serve people. “Even if I dress a wound of a person and provide a nice clean bandage, I serve. On his own if he donates some to the cause, it will be nice. Even if he does not pay, it is fine.” He liked my idea of financing and organizing a medical camp in my village once a year in dry season with cooperation of doctors of nearby towns. But he also opined that it would have been better, if some doctor in family had done that. With my doctor daughter-in-law for whom I had a dream of this sort already in US, I have lost that option. I shall have to do that on my own. May be my doctor brother Krishna can be of some help.
With 40 doctors per lakh of population in Bihar against a national average of 71, would not it have it be better if Dr. Rajan opened this clinic somewhere in Bihar? But the doctor couldn’t have the affluent patients there who could afford the high fee necessary to take care of the cost incurred by him for his education. In India, one is still to pay a huge fee for admission in regual medical colleges or even dental and ayurveda medical collages these days. I was amazed to learn that it is more than a lakh per month on average for even dental, where for regular MBBS courses it is between 2-3 lakh or more. A gentleman from Merrut told me this, whom I met at my advocate friend’s residence in the evening. Why can’t we have many more medical colleges on the line we are having engineering colleges? Do you know the number of students who enrolled in engineering colleges this year in India? The number is 450,000. However, Bihar has remained far behind even in this. Bihar can help only 1,574 students to become engineers per year against Andhra’s figure of 64,300.
However, I was talking about medical schools. The nation as a whole needs more investment in medical education. And I am sure the investment will not go waste. And then Bihar could also have its share of doctors, if things improve as it is hoped now with change in government and people hoping of a ‘ramrajya’ in place of of its earlier ‘jungleraj’.
- Indra
Category: Employment/Education |
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