The New Nation - Internet Edition

Dr. M. S. Haq

I am talking about ophthalmologist Dr. Nafis A. Chowdhury. He got his graduate training in pertinent areas of ophthalmology in the US after completing undergraduate studies - I mean, MBBS - at one of the public medical colleges of Bangladesh. Chowdhury worked in the US for a considerable period of time. He is at present a consultant ophthalmologist at Bangladesh Medical College and Hospital, Dhaka - 1209. He is also available for consultations, tests, (etc.) in the evening hours, 6 days a week - save and except intervening holiday(s) - at the Columbia Eye Center, Dhanmondi Residential Area, Dhaka - 1209.

I came to know about him through a number of his patients - both old and new, and through other sources. Further, I have had the opportunity to observe him and his work at times very closely in the recent years. Dr. Chowdhury appears to be, among other things, a medical practitioner with a human face. His interpersonal skills that he has so far been able to apply in the course of treating his patients or dealing otherwise with them deserve, in an average sense, commendations from all concerned. Congratulations!

Patients and their attendants (as applicable) reportedly start feeling relaxed and putting their trust in his abilities when they come in contact with Dr. Chowdhury - whether at the hospital or at the center, per se.

He appears to make no difference between poor patients and other patients when it comes to giving them time and attention, paying due courtesy to them and affording them the best medical treatment he can - relative to time, space and other variables, though.

Technically speaking, Dr. Nafis A. Chowdhury appears to be - inter alia and at this point in time - one of the best glaucoma specialists in the country. His present day knowledge, as well as understanding about glaucoma, and his skills, expertise and experience in applying pertinent knowledge and understanding to for example, diagnosing glaucoma, 'treating' (used in a deeper medical sense) glaucoma patients, and ensuring proper medical follow-ups in relevant cases appear to have been instrumental in inter alia strengthening, sustaining and promoting - on a continuous basis - confidence and constituencies associated with his ophthalmology related excellence in the community of glaucoma patient, for example. Further, his success rate in areas of ophthalmology related procedures has so far been found to be good.

One of the present day strengths of Nafis is: his continuous efforts towards broadening the domain of medical knowledge, understanding and competence in pertinent areas through for example, devoting a part of his yearly time to medical practices in the US.

I believe a windfall from above developments (in-country + ex-country) has inter alia been instrumental in scaling up and fine tuning his professional efficiency and effectiveness in qualitative, quantitative and other terms. His familiarity with mainstream research, development and engineering (RDE) in the present time in areas of ophthalmology in the US is evident from say, his interactions (used in a wider sense) with patients and others.

It will not be out of place to mention here, I have been able to discover his presence - at conceptual, application and other levels - in areas of integrative medicine - a cutting edge yet to be fully blown approach to 21st century medicine - - that has been initiated or subscribed or supported or dealt with otherwise by Harvard Medical School - Boston, King Edward Medical University (initially, King Edward Medical College) - Lahore, and other relevant institutions of academic, as well as research excellence.

Interesting though, I have not so far come across a single situation that assisted me in drawing a kind of conclusion: Dr Chowdhury is a money hungry medical practitioner. He appears to be kind, helpful, somewhat unassuming, and adequately responsible.

The last word: the quality of health care systems, as well as services in Bangladesh is being largely affected (used in a negative sense) - in varying degrees and as appropriate - by for example: the poor performance of regulatory regimes in the health care and related areas; the growing gap between the demand side and the supply side of say, quality medical practitioners, quality medical practices and quality medical environments; the ever increasing wants and greed of medical professionals and concerned others; the limitations of country's criminal justice system in say, identifying, arresting and prosecuting violators of medical ethics including inter alia those relating to unfair medical practices on the part of medical practitioners and others; the paucity of biomedical engineering machines and equipment; the absence of proper maintenance culture in pertinent areas; unreliable test results; corruption; the continuation of master and servant relationship between medical practitioners and poor patients - in particular; a continuous drop in the per capita entitlement of Bangladeshi poor when it comes to their access to the country's existing health care opportunities and facilities; inadequacies associated with the country's education, research, training and development in areas of say, medical sciences; insufficient coordination in relevant interdisciplinary areas; a less than required cultivation of reading culture; and a virtual absence of ordinary people's participation in the health care monitoring, control and quality improvement processes.

Let us negotiate remedial measures pertaining to above and other related things with political parties as one of the conditions for casting votes in favor of concerned parties in the upcoming election.