Africa-Press – Mauritius. On July 1, 2022 Doctors’ Day various functions and celebrations were held in the South Indian state of Karnataka in recognition of their services, especially during the various waves of Covid-19.
While participating in a programme to honour senior doctors and their family members at United Hospital, Jayadeva Hospital Director, Dr C. N. Manjunath noted that due to innovations in technology, the expectations of people and patients on doctors are increasing.
Due to ‘IDIOT’ syndrome, it is becoming very difficult to treat educated people, he said. I had never heard of IDIOT syndrome, and it turns out the acronym stands for ‘Internet Derived Information Obstructing Treatment.
’ People blindly trust medical information available online and stop their treatment abruptly without consulting their doctor, or query their doctors based on such information.
In fact, it is not only educated people. Anyone with a smartphone – which means everybody! – has information available 24/7 and as Dr Manjunath pointed out:
‘People are getting information about their ailments and diseases with the help of technology available on their palms.
Amidst the explosion of technology, the expectations of the patients and their attendants have increased. Doctors are overwhelmed when people rush to the hospital with unrealistic expectations of doctors.
In this changed context, the need for a specialist doctor to have not only technical and professional skills but also communication skills has increased a lot.
However, even before the advent of the palm held, information loaded devices, I and I am sure many of my colleagues had faced patients who come armed with what they think are intelligent questions.
But it is not their fault, it’s just that people talk a lot about their medical and health matters, and bits and pieces of ‘knowledge’ are picked up by all and sundry. We all know that the hairdresser’s saloon or the open market – la foire – are the favoured locations where the juiciest gossipy exchanges take place.
Often, almost invariably in fact, they include details about one’s ailments, health establishments where they are being treated, the behaviour of the health personnel including doctors of course. These snippets ate tucked away in their natural CPUs aka the brain and who knows when they may surface!
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