At the Horizon of Life & Death: The doctors’ side of story

While doctors are blamed for any mishap that happens in an operation theatre, rarely do we get to know their side of the story — how a dying patient affects their psyche, how they deal with these patients and their kith and kin, what are the kinds of abuse and threats made when they are not able to save a life despite their best efforts. Dr Pankaj Kumar, Internist and Director, Critical Care at Fortis Hospital in Shalimar Bagh has come out with an insightful account of these very aspects of a doctor’s life. His book, At the Horizon of Life & Death, is a Reality Fiction that reflects the sensitivity involved in dealing with patients facing death. The 300-page book contains 20 stories divided into three parts viz Larva & Pupa Syndrome, Hope & Fear and Blame & Medical Lawsuits.

“Part One talks about the expensive medical education, and the issues students face in medical college. Part Two talks about the beginning of doctors’ professional journey, the demons they face while dealing with critical patients, and Part Three is about how doctors are always working under the threat of medico-legal lawsuits,” says Dr Kumar. While stories are fictional, the scenarios and the problems in them are very real — things that he faced or saw his colleagues facing.

“I have been dealing with critical patients for the last 24 years, and believe me, it’s not easy on us. Over the years, I have seen how people have increasingly become distrustful of doctors, and blame them the moment anything goes wrong with their patient,” he says. “Some doctors may be money-minded but you cannot blame the entire community for that,” he adds, pointing that “mistrust generation and blame culture” keeps harping about the black sheep in the community, while good doctors are not highlighted enough. “So, how do we still work in such an environment, giving our best to bring a patient back to good health?” he asks. 

Dr Kumar began writing this “difficult” book three years back, but the actual foundation was laid in 2017, when he started extinctdoctorgood.com to document his angst at the changing status of doctors in society. He began writing about the fear, the stress, the pain and the problems that doctors go through. “But my articles were read only by the doctor community. So, in 2019 I decided to bring out a book that could reach the masses.”  

Through the eyes of its protagonist Dr Anand, the book captures significant moments in the treatment trajectory of critical patients and also creates awareness regarding pertinent issues faced by the medical professionals like demoralisation, expensive medical education, the extreme pressure and suicidal ideation, the plight of the nurses and support staff, assaults and violence and the medico-legal intricacies involved in day-to-day practice among others. Dr Kumar has also taken care to guide aspiring doctors to make well-informed career decisions.

“The stories span from Dr Anand’s initial days in the emergency room and capture his struggles in complex medico-legal scenarios over the next four decades.  I hope this book helps bring back focus on the treatment of the patient as opposed to the mistrust, legal frameworks and policies surrounding the healthcare practice,” says Dr Kumar, who is now working on the second part of the series that will talk about how things could be reverted to the old order when a patient was not a “consumer”. “Being consumers may be an overall loss-making deal for patients,” he says.

The book is self-published, and at present available as kindle edition (Rs 299)