PESHAWAR: Learning in any discipline is a continuous and comprehensive process. Learning in medical discipline needs keen and concentrated efforts to master skills relating to one’s professional and ethical attitude.

Sometimes, it is not the medicine which affects the patient; rather it is a doctor’s behaviour which can help cure. Ethical, moral and social values should be kept in mind while treating a patient.

Dr Shabir Ahmed Awan has recently published a valuable book titled ‘The Pearls of Orthopaedic Training’ carrying guidelines for young medical professionals.

Share and care attitude can always help a young medical trainee to face challenges in life. Giving an earful and a generous smile to patient can earn respect and confidence for a doctor, which at times, prove effective during training.

Making false promises with patients or their relatives is tantamount to inviting their wrath, especially when their hopes are not fulfilled.

The book advises doctors to keep ethical, moral and social values in mind while treating patients

“A doctor is supposed to provide the actual situation of illness and its expected outcome in professional manner,” the book describes.

Young medical professionals are always in need of getting maximum experience, knowledge and good manners from their seniors, supervisors and even juniors. It is advised that a doctor should speak to his/her patients in such a manner that they become friendly enough to share important personal history regarding their ailment. Having good relations can make one’s training easy and stress free.

A doctor’s dress, gait, gesture, attitude and words may either cast positive or negative effect on the patients. Involving in conflict, argument or fight may spoil a young doctor’s training, reputation and good relations.

Confidentially is yet another important element of training. It is a patient’s right that his/her clinical information should be kept secret and it should not be disclosed without prior permission of the patient or parents in case the patient is minor.

The book suggests that instructions and precautions should be given in local language if possible when writing prescription so that a patient could follow them. It says that special attention should be paid when prescribing medication to elderly patients as they are taking many medicines for their different illnesses and there may be risk of drug interaction.

Also, the book advises the young doctors to learn to be careful while prescribing medicines to professional drivers because some medicines could affect their driving ability. Many a times, it causes fatal road accidents.

Similarly, great care needs to be taken when prescribing medicines to children as they respond differently from adult. Weight and age of children should be kept in mind. It says that casual attitude is never tolerated in medical discipline. Punctuality, extra care for patient and good relations with seniors and colleagues can qualify a young medical officer to be a successful professional and good human being.

Dr Shabir, the author of the book, is a consultant orthopaedic trauma and endoscopic spinal surgeon with qualification from UK, Canada and the USA. Noted doctors and experts from the USA and UK have recommended his book for trainees in medical discipline.

Mr Ahmed’s special interests are in minimally invasive spinal surgery (MISS), back pain and sciatica. Spreading over 192 pages, the book will prove a crash course for young health workers.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2014