The funniest cartoons were about me, and with their permission, I have preserved them for the last so many years now
The author recounts his service period as medical officer at Wadura college Sopore years back Chapter Medico in green pastures in Bumpy Roads
Trying to immunise healthy students against tetanus was an uphill task. “Doc, I am really afraid no one will attend our program,” one of the staff members in the medical unit said. We decided to organise an orientation program, and during my “chalk talk,” I emphasised the importance of preventive medicine in the form of vaccination. “Friends, if you wish to participate, tell us more about your health in the past, whether you have any allergies or any chronic illnesses, complete this pro forma and submit it to the medical unit tomorrow.” “We’ll have a fun fair later,” I went on. “You can make cartoons, play musical chairs, sing, etc. tomorrow, and have some fun.” “But,” I cautioned, “you can make any cartoon of me, but please refrain from making cartoons about your teachers and your colleagues.”
Soon after the orientation program had ended, all the students were seen boarding the college bus and leaving the campus.
“No one will come tomorrow, Doc. They all have left,” said another employee of the medical unit gloomily. “Well,” I said, “we will wait from 9am to 2pm for them, and that is all we can and must do.” The next day the weather was very nice and I came out quite early in the morning from my accommodation in the staff quarters. It was a pleasant walk through the pear orchard, and even more pleasing listening to the chirping and singing of the birds. At 9am, to our great surprise, we saw the students thronging in significant numbers in their green coats, their official uniform, to the medical unit. They started showing us the most beautiful cartoons. Our idea of drawing and displaying cartoons had undoubtedly unleashed their creativity! It became clear to all of us why the students had boarded the bus the day before. Yes, you guessed it – it was to get material from the local market in Sopore, as no such market was available on the campus or in the nearby village. It was amazing to see how the students had depicted their problems concerning campus water, electricity, boring hostel life, etc. in a very creative manner. The funniest cartoons were about me, and with their permission, I have preserved them for the last so many years now. I still feel that those were the best gifts depicting his patient-doctor relationships that any doctor could ever receive. The funfair cum vaccination and blood grouping program went very nicely, and no efforts were required to inject students with the further two necessary doses to complete the program. Data from those proformas formed the basis of a useful database, as they revealed that 18 students were allergic to sulfa drugs, a number to penicillin and that some had family histories of diabetes etc.
The next milestone for the medical unit was the establishment of a Well Baby Clinic cum Vaccination Centre to cater for the needs of the populations of adjacent villages. Universal immunisation vaccines were made available on the campus in collaboration with the Health Department of Kashmir. Most of the local people were utterly ignorant about these vaccination programs. Accordingly, a campaign in the form of posters displayed all over the area was launched, and prominent citizens, religious leaders, school teachers etc., were mobilised to increase the awareness of vaccination programs among residents in these villages. The medical unit of the Faculty distributed posters, and lectures were delivered in religious places by the senior pharmacist so that this national program, including our part in it, become a great success. We observed encouraging results and hundreds of babies (aged 0-5 years) hailing from different villages were vaccinated in the faculty medical unit. Since December 1995, when Pulse Polio Immunization (PPI) campaign was launched by the Govt.of India there has been a drastic reduction in the number of polio cases. India accounts for more than 50% of cases of Poliomyelitis reported globally.
Annual health study
Another winter had set in, and now I tried to analyse the annual data on the various health-related problems of the Faculty students and quickly observed a high frequency of gastrointestinal upsets and pharyngitis, possibly due to hostel mess conditions . That very day I had a meeting with the Dean of the college, the late Dr Nirmal Singh and presented him with our data. “Sir, it appears that hygienic conditions of the hostel mess need to be improved,” I explained to the dean. “Fine, Doc. Please give me a written proposal as to how we can encourage the development of better facilities,” the dean said. This way, a six-point program for improving hostel hygiene came into existence and under the chairmanship of Prof S. D. Masoodi recommendations were implemented. Mr Peer Sharief ud din and student’s welfare officer Dr Saifuddin played a very crucial role in improving hostel life of students. Another interesting observation emerging from our data was that a good number of students would come to us with psychosomatic symptoms like fatigue, insomnia, headaches, etc., to the medical unit. It seemed to me that a lack of attractive recreational facilities for students on the campus could possibly be responsible for such symptoms. The college, though very beautiful, was located far from the central town, had minimal transport facilities and insufficient recreational facilities. I proposed that active research-oriented activities, cultural programs, seminars, workshops, etc., be organised so that students would start liking the place. Accordingly, the medical unit arranged a seminar8 on organophosphorus poisoning and medical management9. The program was attended by progressive farmers, students and various other district officials. The students and faculty showed a lot of enthusiasm for this project. It may be prudent to mention that since 1962 there are nearly 3 million poisonings per year resulting in two hundred thousand deaths around the globe invariably as a suicidal attempt due to organophosphorus poisoning. The organophosphorus compounds were banned in the developed world, but their use continues to be in developing countries, unfortunately. Now a word of caution to those who deal with pesticides that the exposure can be from drinking, breathing in the vapours, or skin exposure. Among those who work with pesticides the use of protective clothing and showering before going home is also useful. Symptoms can last for days to weeks, and the victim should be hospitalised immediately after an accidental exposure. Coming back to my earlier observation, it was interesting to note that the frequency of a runny nose (rhinitis) and excessive sneezing appeared to have a linear relationship with the spring season, possibly due to pollen allergies, as the campus was lavishly planted with flowers.
On the subject of campus water supplies, I said to the Dean one day, “Sir, I think we should analyse the water supply. It doesn’t sound good to me, but without testing it, I really cannot be sure about this”. “Well Doc,” he replied, “I will be travelling to Srinagar this coming week. We could go together, taking along with us a water sample. We could then get it investigated properly while we are there”. Early one morning during the next week we collected the sample from the tank and headed towards the S.P. College Hydrobiology Laboratory in Srinagar. A few days later I showed him the report. “Good, Doc!” he said. Please now prepare a report as to how the campus water can be improved”. Unlike our modern “connected” times, when everything is available at the touch of a button or the click of a mouse, I hurriedly rushed to my college library, then consulted one of my professors, and together we drafted a plan for the improvement of the campus water. Based on our plan, all the overhead tanks were cleaned, a lot of mud was removed, and a filtration motor was installed. The mud was so copious that it filled nearly eight trucks. The campus water became markedly better. “Please use bleaching powder regularly and adequately. The water coming to my apartment must smell of chlorine,” I instructed the officers working with the water treatment plant on the campus. They meticulously heeded my instructions, and the water supplies soon became better which led to great satisfaction on everybody’s part. The quality of life of the students living on improved, as did everyone’s general mood. (to be continued )
Excerpt from the Book Bumby Roads authored by Dr. Ibrahim Masoodi.He can be mailed at ibrahimmasoodi@yahoo.co.in