Our Questions

One aspect of clinical practice in Nepal has stood out: the distinction between right and wrong is not very complicated, mostly. The comfort of conviction is rather gratifying.

Some of the questions we ask are:
- Do you regard patient as an individual and treat with dignity due to a free individual?
- Can we organize ourselves better so that, without any additional resources, we provide a more systematic care?
- Is spending some time explaining patient about her diagnosis or treatment worth it?
- Do we actually need to listen to a patient or her family?
- Where should be our loyalty be directed to: patients or our "sirs"?
- Should we work while we are at hospital?
- Can we demand of others what we can't do ourselves?

Do not get me wrong, my colleagues are good-intentioned people in general. The roots of our current structure of debate are perhaps quite complicated and beyond my understanding. But to work in this environment, one of the biggest allies you have is the force of conviction in some of these issues. The philosophical clarity is soothing to the conscience too.

Life is hard but not uncomfortable.