Given the rising trend of web prescriptions and self-medication, celebrating July 1 as Doctor’s Day may appear a bit old-fashioned. In fact, doctors and surgeons in Mumbai, admit to the strained doctor-patient relationship and blame excessive competition among medical professionals as the reason behind the unhealthy trend.

The easy access to information on the internet and greater use of over-the-counter medication may be the reason why lesser people are visiting doctors. Shantanu Jaradi, Director of Dentzz Dental Care Centres, says, “Though some people are doing it, the relation hasn’t changed much and patients still turn to their doctors.” Dr Mufazzal Lakdawala, leading Obesity surgeon adds, “With the patient having access to information, he is a more intelligent and so we as doctors need to be prepared for the questions they have for us.”

Practitioners today work for a number of institutes and in the process become less accessible to patients. This may well be another reason for the widening gap between doctors and patients. “Doctors visit various hospitals and so have a busy schedule. This makes it difficult for patients to get in touch with their doctors,” says Dr Vijay Surase, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at the Jupiter Hospital in Thane.

The rising cost of medical expenses is only adding to the distance between doctors and their patients. Surase adds, “People have a budget for everything except their medical needs. They fail to understand that medicines and equipment today are very expensive and so the need for a high fee.”  

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