Mother Teresa's LESSON OF LOVE

As the world is celebrates the 100^th bitrh anniversay of Mother Teresa, who has become the lasting symbol of caring and loving for the sick and the poor, I wish she had gone around in her younger days inspiring medicos to add empathy to the medical science they practice. What is often forgotten in these arrogant hi-tec days is that modern medicine needs all its 3 legs – science, skills and caring, to stand firmly in society. Ironically, although photographs of Mother Teresa  often adorn the walls of rich homes and institutions, her spirit of humanitarism seems wanting, especially in hospitals and clinics, where it is needed most.

There was a time not long ago, when physicians and nurses didn’t have much else to offer patients other than personal attention, comfort, compassion and concern for their ailments. Medical professionals were revered and respected for that and for what little they could do in regard to symptomatic treatment for incurable conditions.

The Twenty-First Century has thrust health care into an era of modernization, precipitated by advances in medical technology and computerization of everything in sight. We have made fantastic strides in the diagnosis and treatment of many serious illnesses. Patients are living longer and more productive lives as a result of these wonderful advances.

However, concomitant with these changes, we have experienced the indisputable depersonalization of patient care. Patients are often treated as diseases or numbers. We often hear medical personnel referring to a patient as “the gallbladder in room 6” or “the COPD in ward B”. We order test after test instead of taking a history because if we don’t “prove” our diagnosis with a test, we may be subjected to a lawsuit later if something goes wrong. And in spite of all these patients are often dissatisafied and litigations are on a steep rise.

What could make Mother Teresa tick? Her home for the sick and destitutes, called Nirmal Hriday, was crowded and lacked adequate medical facilities. I understand that Mother Teresa had infact, during her life time, come under criticism from some quarters, for running a hospice with substandard facilities. Despite these, patients thronged there, received love and care, lived their last days with dignity and died with a smirk of satisfaction on their faces. And their relatives did not shout at the staff or file litigations in courts.

I remember listening to her Nobel Prize acceptance speech in 1979 that spoke only of love. Her Nirmil Hriday was described as “a place of hope, a house built on courage and faith, a home where love reigns, a home filled with love." I wish our hospitals could say that of themselves!

One of her quotes that I have had pasted on the back of my clinic door and which has reminded me from time to time is “Let no one who comes to you ever leave without feeling happier and better”. Try it on your door and see the difference.

As published in HT City ( Hindustan Times) dated 29 august, 2010.