Doctor I will make you the "Best" Doctor
HOPE CLINICS
Doctor Sahib I shall make you the “Best” Doctor
I was recently approached by a representative of a IT firm who started his sale pitch with “DoctorSahib I shall make you the “Best” Doctor”. It is 44 years since I entered the hallowed premises of CMC Ludhiana where I did my graduation and postgraduation and thereafter trained at PGIMER and I still consider myself at best a student of Medicine & Gastroenterology. I was intrigued how this sales representative of a IT company could make me the “Best” Gastroenterlogist . What could not be done by my teachers and seniors like Dr Satja, Dr J Dilawari, Dr K L Dhar, Dr Y Chawla, Dr D N Reddy and even Dr P N Chuttani was now being claimed by a 25 year old smartass with no knowledge of medicine. He indulged my curiosity by explaining to me the process. I was offered various packages whereby for a sum of 25,000 to 70,000 per annum whenever someone in the tricity and nearby areas searched for Best Gastroenterologist on internet, my name would be the first one to come on screen or would be on the first page. There were also other monthly packages for Google reviews which he said could also be bought. What was the icing on the cake was his offer for negative reviews for my competitors which he wanted me to pay for.
I went back to Google and searched my name as well as the name of my clinic. I looked for the top negative reviews and searched for their names in my patient database in my laptop. Surprisingly out of three, I did not find the names of two persons who had posted scathing negative comments in Google reviews. They may have been relatives of a patient and hence not in my patient database or were paid reviews I do not know. The very fact that those who judge me are neither my seniors nor my peers and this angers me. What if all doctors started to give star rating to their patients on Google. One star (abusive/violent/aggressive), Two star (Litigous / googler / doctor shopper) , Three star (noncompliant / self medicating), etc and thereafter every doctor who was consulted first checked the google rating of the prospective patient before deciding their professional fee ?
What is the yardstick for a doctor. Is the doctor who drives a Bentley the best ? Or is the doctor who has 5 star Google rating the best ? Do I even wish to be the “Best” Gastroenterologist with 5 star Google rating ? I ask myself. I guess if my teachers do not feel disappointed with my work and if my prescription and opinion is not outrightly discarded by my peers in practice or in tertiary institutes, I will be satisfied with that. If a sixty year old gentleman thanks me and wants to touch my feet I feel I have achieved whatever it was that I was seeking so many years ago. Unfortunately in todays era it is internet which decides the professional worth of an individual. And these search engines are paid for. So how does one search for a good doctor. I guess the best yardstick is the patient to patient referral and respect of the peers.
There is however a problem for youngsters and new practitioners though who obviously will not have patient to patient referral. They need to advertise but it should be done ethically as per guidelines. Internet marketing today is an integral part of medical profession but needs to be self regulated. I for one do not have any interest in becoming the “Best Doctor”, in fact if you ask me I no longer have an interest in remaining a “Doctor”.