Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi said, on December 10, that ethics in the medical profession have become a "product" because of market forces and that it needs to be deliberated upon. The Governor was speaking at the 33rd convocation of Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education & Research (SRIHER) in Chennai.
VR Venkataachalam, SRIHER's Chancellor, conferred degrees and distributed certificates to PhD and Super Speciality graduates. Addressing the 1,801 graduating medicos, who attended the convocation in-person and virtually, RN Ravi said, "Ethics is one area that is not getting enough attention. The forces of market have prevailed upon us so much that at times it appears that ethics is a market product. No, it is not."
After presenting 98 gold medals to meritorious students, the Governor said that Medicine is the noblest profession humankind has created and urged prospective doctors to guard against commercialisation. "Some doctors today don't have the patience to listen to the patient. Communication with patients is very important," he said.
However, he acknowledged that doctors are under pressure and deserve our empathy. "Nevertheless, with all the limitations, listen to your patient as a sick person who is not just physically sick but also psychologically disturbed." He added a compassionate approach towards treatment, whereby a doctor taking time out to patiently listen leads to better diagnosis and comforts them psychologically too. "This is half the cure," he said.
Traditional practices
RN Ravi, who is the former Governor of Nagaland, remarked upon the National Education Policy 2020 and said, "Traditional systems of Medicine cannot be ignored. The National Education Policy attempts to integrate the two (modern medicine and traditional medicine) which is how future education in India should be."
He urged the degree holders to not discard traditional methods used by the masses. "From my experience in Nagaland, people over 100 years of age is not uncommon. You can find them in villages there, a large number of people who are 110-112 years of age," he said. The Governor said that he facilitated people who were over 100 years old. "They lived for so long with their traditional system of cure. There is a lot of merit in it and let us not dismiss it," Ravi said.
