After finishing medical school now it is time to get a job. At that time popular option was to take a govt. job. One of our teacher used to say always try to get a govt. job - getting one is difficult but once you get it, loosing your job is more difficult.There was one problem. Since there was a great shortage of doctors in primary health center, govt. made a rule that all doctors have to work in a rural health center for three years. Govt. can do that because medical education in govt. medical colleges are subsidized. Tuition we paid for our medical education in India is an wildest dream for American medical students. Our tuition was 106 rupees for six month. And room charges for the hostel was 12 rupees. Food charges were 65 rupees for a month(lunch and dinner).
Anyway this mandatory rural health service can be skipped if you know some one higher up in the govt. I was considering what to do then my professor of Surgery spoke me in to joining health center.
I was posted to a primary health center in the district of Murshidabad. Population of my health center was about 90% Muslim. The place is located very close to Bangladesh border. I heard during partition this village was in east Pakistan(now Bangladesh) for one day next day it became part of India. From Berhampur we have to take a bus to reach Sadhikhandia. On the road we have to get off the bus as bus need to cross a river, we walked through the river then got in the bus on the other side of the river. In the health center the doctors wife who I will be replacing gave me such a warm welcome, I started feeling little uneasy. Later I learned that doctor was waiting for last five years for a reliever ,many doctors were posted but none of them finally showed up. So when I showed up they can't believe it and the wife so desperate to the leave that village unable to check her emotions.
I liked the place very much, typical Indian village. People are very friendly and respectful. Only problem was the people goes to sleep very early, the whole village will immerse in silent darkness by 7:30 p.m. and they wakes up very early in the morning. Fresh from college hostel life it was completely opposite over there.There was another doctor in the health center Asimda. One or two year senior to me joined this place few months before me. We get along very well and became friends. According to the village standard I was the light skin color doctor and Asimda was the dark skin color doctor. There was a Dalim tree in front of my quarter and a mango tree in front of Asimda quarter.I was called 'dalimtaler dholo doctor' ( fare skin doctor lives near dalim tree) and Asimda was called ' amtaler kalo doctor'(dark skin doctor who lives under mango tree).
I told Asimda I want to do few minor surgeries in this health center ,so if he gets any case let me know.Few days after I joined the Health Center, one afternoon Asimda called me to see a patient, a 25 year old Muslim boy going to get married soon but before that he wanted to get circumcised. Asimda said he knows this family very well and requested me if I can help and save the boy form embarrassment. It was a very easy case to a freshly graduated surgical fellow. It was surprising why a Muslim boy waited this long for get circumcised usually this happens soon after birth.The young man said soon after birth he became very sick so surgery was postponed and then never got done.Without much thought I was excited do the procedure and scheduled the surgery for the next morning.Surgery went very smoothly. Patient was send to bed for few hours with the plan to discharge home in the evening. Around 2 p.m. I got a call to see the patient as he is bleeding heavily from the operated site. I went rushing and surprised to find patient is seating in a pool of blood. I opened the bandage cleaned the wound placed few more stitches, placed the bandage back , very soon the bandage got soaked with blood, I got very nervous called Asimda. He knew what is going on he spoke to the family and said we have to transfer this patient to the capital city Beharampur hospital now arrangements were done.As the ambulance left our health center Asimda called me to his room and told me we did a big mistake, we should have taken more detailed history before doing the case. Apparently soon after the bleeding started the patients older brother came to Asimda and said the reason none of the three bother got circumcision at birth is they have family history of hemophilia. I was dumb found, felt very embarrassed. The boy got blood transfusions at Beharampur hospital and returned home after a week and told everyone the new health center doctor cut a wrong vein causing him to bleed so much.Thus my plan of doing few procedures in this health center to serve these undeserved people was put on hold for the time being.
Since both of us were bachelor and nothing else to do so we used to work at the health center all day, became very popular in that area. One day a old man came with severe burns of her grand daughter,I said this can not be treated here she should get transferred to Berhampur otherwise she will not survive. Like most of the village people this old man is very afraid of big city. He told me you please do whatever you can I am not going to take her to Berhampur ,if she dies ,that's ok. with limited supply of medicine and I.V fluids I tried my best and miraculously the young girl survived but she was left with bad scars from the burns in her leg and abdomen. Family was very happy. When the girl got better one day she asked me if I can do anything about the scars in her leg. I said I can give a try , she was very pleased. One day I went to Berhampur , the doctors at that hospital are well known to me, got some basic instruments and I did skin grafting on this girl in the health center. Family and the whole village celebrated my success very big way, I was very happy. Since these people never got exposed to antibiotics or any other medication in their life, medicine does wonders.Treating them is always a pleasure. Grandfather was in tears he told me, I have no way to pay you anything but you have to agree to accept a chicken every week, he never missed his promise till my last day of stay in this village.
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