Develop sensitive communication skills along with clinical sense: Murmu to doctors

President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday urged doctors to be completely clinical in their diagnosis or surgery, but not be clinical in their behaviour.

Addressing the first convocation ceremony of AIIMS, Deoghar at Deoghar, Jharkhand, Murmu emphasised that primary care is the basis of universal health coverage.

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On the occasion, the President said although AIIMS, Deoghar, primarily focuses on tertiary healthcare, it should also actively provide guidance and support in the field of primary healthcare.

She said the team of doctors and students from AIIMS Deoghar should visit Urban Primary Health Centres and Rural Community Health Centres to assist.

Murmu urged the doctors to make inclusive healthcare their principle at the personal level as well.

She told the graduating students that getting an education at AIIMS is considered a guarantee that they have become skilled doctors.

She advised them to become good doctors, along with being a competent and skilled doctor. A good doctor should develop a sharp clinical sense as well as sensitive communication skills. “We have all seen that there are some doctors after consulting with whom the patient and his family feel better,” Murmu said.

She urged the doctors to be completely clinical in their diagnosis or surgery, but not be clinical in their behaviour. “Be sympathetic in behaviour and give advice with sympathy,” the President said.

At the national level, she noted that the government is making an effort to minimise the pressure of out-of-pocket expenditure on people related to health. In this national effort, institutions like AIIMS Deoghar and doctors have an institutional role as well as an individual role, the President said.

She advised all stakeholders of AIIMS Deoghar to together make a list of Sustainable Development Goals related to health and medicine. The President said they should find out the status of India and Jharkhand in achieving those goals.

“Some goals have been achieved at the national and state levels. They can decide how this institute can contribute to achieving the remaining goals at the state and national levels,” Murmu said.

“Our country has to achieve many ambitious goals in the field of healthcare. AIIMS institutions will play a very important role in achieving these national goals. Medical institutions like AIIMS Deoghar, which have been established to eliminate inequality in healthcare services, are like beacons spreading light in the darkness. They not only have to provide world-class specialist medical care at low cost, but also have to play the role of change-agents of the healthcare ecosystem,” the President said.