First among equals
“What makes a doctor successful?” This was the question that always figured in my mind ever since I decided to be a doctor. And by successful, I did not mean prosperous (financially) but an ability to gain the trust of his/her patients. Logically, every doctor reads the same set of books does the same battery of investigations and prescribes the same set of medicines. So the fact that patients seem to flock to some doctors more than the others intrigued me. The candid reply I got when I posed this question to a surgery professor was, “You need to be a back bencher in a class to become a successful doctor!” He further elaborated, “Back benchers are good to converse with, take life as it comes and do not take things too seriously. These are attributes which patients appreciate. They warm up to people who are easy going and talk freely.” “You need to speak to the patient in the vernacular language”, chipped in my grandmother from Udupi, who sensed a slight hesitation on my part to learn K
Dr. Tandava Krishnan
