In the good old
days of Goa, each village had two pillars, the priest and the doctor. In the temple towns too, the
sagacity of temple priests was crucial before important personal decisions were
taken, while the village dotor was a friend philosopher and guide, in matters
beyond health.
Today as doctors took
to the streets of Goa in solidarity with their colleagues in West Bengal who
have been beaten up, purportedly, they can take solace in the age old familial
relationship between doctors, patients and the government, in Goa which has
made the bond ensure over the years. And even if there have been isolated
incidents, they have been curtailed and contained. The relationship is that of
mutual trust. Patients revered doctors while doctors cared for patients as
family members.
Moreover, the
relationship stretched for generations. Just as doctors treated generations
from the same family, patients families gave the same respect to generations in
the doctors family. The healing touch remained for years, sometimes for
multiple decades, with grand children and great grand children of doctors
receiving special affection and good will in the village.
This popularity made
many doctors representatives of people with two of them going on becoming Chief
Ministers (See box)
The recent attack on
a junior doctor in West Bengal sent out a cry to doctors all over India to join
a nationwide strike. However, in Goa, the situation is quite different. A
leading oncologist and IMA Goa spokesperson, Dr Shekhar Salkar, says, “In Goa,
there is a small population with doctors almost like family guides. We are law
abiding citizens because of our culture. But if we are not careful, it won’t be
long before we fall into the same trap. This incident in West Bengal is very
painful. In Goa, there are many avenues to vent out grievances against the
doctor and there is no reason to take law in one’s hand.”
In the profession
since 1978, Dr Shelkar has guided many cancer patients with sound advice,
especially with regard to their marital life. “In the field of cancer
treatment, I get many requests from patients asking me whether they can get
married or not, since it is a medical problem. I tell them to call their future
husband/ wife and I speak to him/her. With all the information in hand, if they
go ahead with the wedding, it’s a matter of celebration because somebody is
getting married with the information that their spouse has cancer, these are
real moments worth celebrating. One of the first marriages was in 1998 and I am
happy that I gave the right advice to this happily married couple. This is a
part and parcel of a life of a doctor,” says Dr Shekar, who is actively
involved in various associations and Konkani language programs.
Dr Hubert Gomes, a
dentist, has acted in a Konkani musical video, a cover song by DnT the Band on
‘Kazarachem Utor/Piti Piti Mog’, which reached 5000 views, and two Konkani movies
that are yet to be released. “This is my 35th year in practice
and I get patients from different parts of Goa and around the world. Till
today, I don’t have any police case or a medical legal case against me because
I treat my patients as friends. From a very humble practice started 35 years
ago, I now have a big practice with 12 doctors working for me and we have grown
only because of the good wishes of our patients.
He was also active in the field of politics. “I am not into
politics anymore but we have a community project for the last 12 years.
Whenever we have patients who have financial difficulties, we have ‘Help Them
to Smile Again’, where we provide treatment at a subsidised cost. It gives me
great joy to help people,” he explains.
Known as Goa’s singing doctor, Dr Francisco Colaco is the
pioneer of echocardiography in Goa. For 30 years, he has donned many hats in
the field of cardiology; he is the first to set up an ICU in a private hospital
and the first to start echocardiograms. “I can never make a proper judgement of
the case unless I know the family background, which gives us a wealth of
information about the disease. We have to be scientific and tackle the problem
but there is a root cause behind every problem and the root is usually based on
family problems, either financial or social. I give a lot of time to my
patients. I believe that to dismiss a patient after handing them their
prescription is a manner of injustice; they deserve more attention,” says Dr
Francisco, who loves writing and intersperses his articles with politics,
medicine and music. He is part of the group Lok Shakti and other social
political platforms with the goal of creating political activism.
Dr Oscar Rebello was the face of Goa’s most potent people’s
movement, the Goa Bachao Abhiyan, instrumental in the ultimate crapping of te
draconian Regional Plan
Physician-turned-musician
Dr Luis Dias founded Child’s Play India Foundation in 2009 with a focus on
Western Classical music for children and Dr Subodh Kerkar, a trained doctor, is
the Founding Director of the Museum of Goa in the field of art.
