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Fingers of a Palm The Fist of Development
Arshiet Dhamnaskar MSAI - India
arshiet@gmail.com
Public Health. Whose responsibility is it? The public’s, isn’t it? Of course, awareness on the part of the public is a must; but the public also involves other professionals that can play equally important roles in nurturing healthcare systems in the community. Then why is it that it is only the doctor who can be seen grasping the reins of public health? Although it cannot be denied that there is some contribution from other fields such as bioinformatics and biomedical engineering, it might not be enough for what we wish to achieve in the healthcare system. We speak of development, we speak of health being an important factor for development, yet in many places around the world, healthcare continues to be backward. The primary reason for this being either the indifference and ignorance of the clinician in these matters or the apathy shown by other sectors towards medicine. Why should we integrate other fields into the field of medicine? The doctor might know that good sanitation and toilets are required to maintain hygiene and health, and might even possess the knowledge of specifications of the same. However, without the help of an architect, an engineer and a builder; he cannot deliver the same to the public. Likewise, while building a house, the others might not know the exact health conditions that need to be addressed, while a doctor might.
professional — each consisting of a doctor, an engineer, an administrator, a finance expert and a few chosen others — to assess the current scenario in a particular area and then formulate the development plan likewise. Individual Involvement of a Medical Student Currently, we as medical students can not only demand our respective universities to include such knowledge into our curriculum but also take a few steps from our side to aid this. For instance, we could hold regular discussions with our peers from the other sectors, and conduct activities and surveys. We could even get together and develop research studies to developing new ideas. We could even use the internet in our advantage, to explore what the other fields have in store for us. Someday, this might be a reality, and that day does not seem too far, taking into account the simplicity of the idea. We could start at our personal level, and then wait for the administrative bodies to follow up. We could all take our own efforts to add meaning to public health. Why? Because we know that all professional sectors, the fingers of the palm, are going to form a fist of development.
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There are few conferences, workshops or seminars where an integrated approach is taken towards medicine. Medical institutions should look into this; train the medical student of the same. Similarly, universities from other sectors should consider organising similar events in their institutions. Government-initiated developmental projects should involve forming teams of
References 1. http://www.embs.org/docs/careerguide.pdf 2. h t t p : / / l i b n a . m n t l . i l l i n o i s . e d u / p d f / publications/193_Chien.pdf medical students worldwide | AM 2016, Mexico