Medicine of late has been compartmentalised where doctors look at parts of a patient not whole: Senior physician

Udwadia made the remark while speaking at the fifth MEDICON International 2018 in Kolkata, which was organised jointly by Peerless Hospital and BK Roy Foundation, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and Association of Physicians of India (West Bengal Chapter).

Speaking at the conference, Udwadia said  that it is very important to look at things holistically and see them as human beings who house those organs.

"Insurance is the single most important factor as a patient’s health can be better looked after. Poor people should be provided with insurance. An experienced General Physician is a very important aspect of medicine. Earlier GPs used to visit the patient homes but sadly that has declined. GPs should not be looked down upon. I think there will be a revival of the General Practitioner," said he.

During his Shyamal Sen Memorial oration spoke on the theme,“Forgetiing the art of Medicine”, Udwadia touched upon the finer nuances of keeping the human touch and use the mind and heart for hearing , listening and feeling the patient so as to make the right diagnosis. Mere technology and medical advanced systems is not the art of medicine, he stated.

"There have been stupendous advance in science but there have been a strange mistrust and disillusionment in this sector. Earlier this profession was looked upon in high regard but this is not so, now," said he.

According to the senior physician, to practice good art of medicine, a doctor should listen well, sense the unspoken signs from the patient, practice the art of questioning the patient well and also exercise the art of physical examination and learn the skill of good judgement to arrive at the perfect diagnosis.

"Art of medicine is the artful application of science in a holistic way towards the patient. Physicians should have broader engagement with the patient to strengthen mutual bonding and trust," said he.

Highlighting the importance of the conference, Dr. Sujit Kar Purkayastha,Managing Director of Peerless Hospital and B K Roy Foundation and patron of MEDICON INTERNATIONAL 2018 stated, “This conference is about transfer of knowledge. We have speakers from within and outside the country.Itallows trainee doctors to be at a forum where they can listen to experts in a specific field.Talking to media is a way ofexpressing our views . In healthcare there is a missing link, we are trying to cover that link through platforms like this.While it is encouraging to see organ transplants happening but we need to find out why is there a cause to do the transplant. We need to help people safeguard their organs and lessen the disease burden."

Dr Deepak Dwarakanath, Vice President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, stated that The Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh is aligned with this conference the last few years .

"There is a lot of knowledge exchange between generalists and specialists and provides highquality CME for intending healthcare professionals. In the U.K. the current trend in medicine is to move away from cure to prevention," said he.

"In this profession no one goes to work to cause errors, rather all try the best for the patient. But if there is any error , then it should be dealt with honesty, openness and candour," he stated.

Dr. Brian Wood ,Divisional Director of Medicine and Emergency Care at Logan Hospital, Queensland, Australia while talking about errors in the medical profession said that human errors can creep in this line but any violence towards the medical professionals is not considered to be healthy as it creates gaps in the trust between doctor and patient.

"If trust is lacking, the system starts failing. Although there have been incidents of violence in India against doctors, such acts have no tolerance in countries like U.K. and Australia. Of course patient care is of much importance as they are consumers. But on many instances it’s the problem stems from gaps in communication than medical mistakes," he noted.

Among other speakers at the conference, Prof. Peter J Grant spoke about obesity being the gift of capitalist society that leads to modern ailments like heart diseases, diabetes and high B.P.