Death of Young Doctor Rajesh Bhat of Heart Attack Calls for Doctors to do Health Check-Ups
Mangaluru : Saturday, 22 June 2019 was a sad day for the members of Indian Medical Association (IMA)- Mangaluru Chapter, and also for the Mangaluru Medical Fraternity when they got the shocking news of the untimely death of their colleague, a young Gynecologist and Obstetrician Dr. Rajesh T. Bhat (48), Managing Partner of Bhat’s Nursing Home, Mannagudda, Mangaluru, who collapsed and died while playing during Mangaluru Premier League badminton tournament. The death of this young doctor is a wake-up call for others in the same profession who neglect their own health, by not getting regular or once a year Health Check-Up.
One doctor closely associated with Dr Rajesh Bhat said that Dr Rajesh was a hard working and most committed doctor. His death was unfortunate, for the fact that he might have had chest pain the previous night, and when he put some extra force on the badminton court while playing, could have resulted in heart attack. Yes, doctors heal and help people live longer, but it seems many of them are dying younger when compared to the general public, especially in Kerala which was found during a research done by IMA in 2017. The report stated that young doctors in Kerala die of cardiovascular diseases and cancer- and that the life expectancy of an Indian is 67.9 years, the mean age of death for a Malayalee doctor is 61.75 years, as per the research study. After the condolence meet, a few doctors interacting with Team Mangalorean said that the health care profession in India is getting more stressful these days, and also the recent attacks on the health care professionals is making the job more stressful- and therefore it is advisable that the yearly health check-ups for doctors should be made mandatory.
Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Dr. Rajesh Bhat U-a Associate Prof. & Interventional Cardiologist, KMC Hospital, Ambedkar Circle, Mangaluru said, “Dr Rajesh, a good human being with great sense of humor and zest for life will be missed by me and everybody associated with him professionally to a very great extent. The cause of death was attributed to Heart Attack, which is said to be precipitated by high degree of Stress. It is time to for Medical Fraternity and laymen alike to introspect and deal with the fact stress leading to heart problems. Stress, is inevitable part of everybody’s life, especially that of Doctors. A patient or two in ICU is enough to give a doctor a sleepless night. Dealing with multitude of problems in OPD’s wards and OTs, striving to give best possible care to patients adds up to stress level of a Medical practitioner”.
“Deteriorating patient- doctor relationship, litigation prone society and the rate race in profession multiplies the stress level. How does stress cause Heart Attack? Once a person is under severe stress, there is surge of hormones in body which have deleterious effect on heart. These hormones also increases level of BP and Blood sugar levels, which are traditional risk factors for Heart Attack. Unfortunately, stress level cannot be “measured” unlike BP or blood sugar. Hence, it is difficult to quantify what level of stress is detrimental to heat disease. My advice to general public and professional colleagues is to have a regular health check up to detect and estimate level of traditional risk factors. Control these risk factors. Learn to “Let Go” and “Stop to Smell Roses” in this race of life. Have a healthy life ” added Dr Bhat.
Dr Sachidanand Rai- President of IMA-Mangaluru said, “Stress is indeed a major factor in health care profession these days. Doctors are generally working under a lot of stress, irrespective of government or private jobs.Also increasing number of attacks on doctors recently is also another reason for stress that doctors are facing these days. Increased working hours, the patients they attend to and high expectations contribute to this increased stress. I think the working hours of doctors need to be fixed, besides government social security scheme. Also doctors should be prepared for periodic health check-ups. A doctor’s life is also more important than a patient’s life”.
Dr Prashanth Marla- Medical Director at A J Hospital & Research Centre said, “Doctors job is getting very hectic and stressful in recent times. With heavy load of work in attending a large number of patients daily, hardly finds any time for them to relax or have a social time many a times. Similar was the case of Dr Rajesh Bhat, who was working beyond his limits, and probably never thought of doing a health check-up on himself. It’s sad to note that doctors hardly find time to take care of their own health conditions. There are many doctors who are reluctant to go for health check-ups. And also while attending emergency cases, doctors do not know whether the patient has HIV/Aids or tuberculosis, and in such cases doctors are easy to be affected with serious diseases. Therefore having proper health insurance and at least once a year health check-up will help tremendously”.
Also speaking to Team Mangalorean, Dr Padmanabh Kamath-HoD of Cardiology and professor at KMC, Mangaluru said, “It’s true that doctors on a busy day spend over 13-15 hours in the hospital attending the patients. Working for months and taking a week’s vacation will not serve the purpose in bringing down the stress. Therefore, doctors should have a relaxed hours to de-stress themselves everyday. I many a times go out of my way in taking care of the patients in order to save their lives, because that’s our motto. I don’t expect a patient to die before my eyes. Doctors are also answerable to families. I always pray before I attend a patient in the operation theatre, and that’s my routine every single day”.
“For me, carrying out social work is a stress buster. I think doctors amidst professional commitments, they themselves tend to ignore cardiac symptoms. Therefore, while health check-ups regularly or once/twice a year are essential, doctors should also learn to strike a balance between work and family. Working round-the-clock could be stressful, therefore doctors and everyone in health care field should also take care of their health condition and work without putting too much burden and stress on oneself” advised Dr Kamath.
In conclusion, it was indeed a kind gesture of the members of IMA-Mangaluru to pay their heartfelt respect to their beloved colleague Dr Rajesh Bhat during the condolence meet. While simple condolence messages for loss to any family member may not be able to heal the wounds of a grieving heart, but it definitely plays a big role in proving solace and comfort- and that exactly what the three doctors did expressing their condolence thoughts, which did act like a balm on the wounded spirit of an individual. Losing a colleague or close friend is like losing a part of our self which is hard to replace.
When we are dealing with the pain of losing someone really close to our heart, we don’t seek sympathy. We seek a little bit of love and empathy from the people near us. So while condolence messages for loss would surely make any depressed soul feel a little lighter and happier, knowing that they are not alone in this world fighting the cruel forces of nature, Team Mangalorean would like to express our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family of Dr Rajesh Bhat with this message- “It is not how long a man lives, but how deep that life is. In your pain and sorrow remember that he was a great man. Our sincere sympathies for the death of your beloved one. May His Soul Rest In Peace”.