I feel the most challenging part is dealing with emergencies. There is always an Anaesthesia team on-call for managing emergencies (code Blue team). As soon as something goes wrong; we are the first ones to be paged. So it is our adrenaline rush because we know it’s something serious. We deal with life and death on a daily basis. And keeping our sanity in these circumstances is a difficult task. We don’t realise it often because we are used to this lifestyle.
1. Tell us about your upbringing, background and journey?
Well, I belong to a middle-class Punjabi family of Delhi where every Sunday’s breakfast is Chole bhatura by the rule book and weekdays are the days when dad is busy with his business and mom looks after our studies. None of my family members belongs to the medical fraternity but my parents always wanted me to be a doctor. My mother wanted to be a Doctor herself when she was young, but she got married early. She saw her dream get fulfilled through me.
Every balloon vendor outside a wedding in Delhi used to have a doctor set, without which I never used to go home. And with that doctor set, I used to perform fake operations on my mom. We all have a good laugh about my obsession now.
My father on the other hand never spoke too much about his emotions, like every Indian dad. But I remember him crying when my medical entrance results came. He took great pride in telling all his business acquaintances that his daughter is a Doctor.
2. Why did you choose to be an anesthesiologist?
I never chose to be an Anaesthesiologist. Fate brought me here. I failed to qualify for my post-graduate entrance exams on my first attempt. I re-attempted it the following year determined to be a General Surgeon, confident that this time I ll get a seat in General Surgery. I did secure a good rank but couldn’t get a surgical branch. I even fought a case in the Supreme Court of India over certain disputed post-graduate seats for them to rightfully go to Delhi candidates. As fate would have it, we lost that case.
The only place I was getting a surgical branch was is Assam and Calcutta. Having been born and brought up in Delhi, I never stayed in a hostel for more than one night. So the mere thought of having to manage everything alone in an alien city made me quiver. Hence I stayed in Delhi to pursue Anaesthesiology in my parent college.
I entered it half-heartedly with a void in my heart for Surgery. One year into Anaesthesia, I made beautiful friends who made me survive my first year. We used to have a blast along with our work. One more year into Anaesthesia, I started to enjoy this branch after I understood human physiology and the wonderful effects anaesthesia can have on it. It’s like magic. One second you are awake, the next moment you are in deep sleep. And oh! The power an Anaesthesiologist has. We know how to make your Blood Pressures go up and down according to the demand of the surgery, we know the power of pain-free procedures. It’s wonderful.
And as I was falling in love with this branch, I also fell in love with this beautiful man who is now my husband. I think he is another reason why anaesthesia happened to me. Which Orthopedic surgeon would not want his wife to give anaesthesia to his patients. Cost-cutting you see. This world is an expensive place. I got married in my second year of residency and my husband helped me big time in managing my exam stress and with my thesis of course. Perks of marrying someone senior to you in medical college.
3. What do anaesthesia and chronic pain medicine involve?
Anaesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical purposes. It may include some or all analgesia, paralysis, amnesia, and unconsciousness.
In simple terms, you don’t know when the procedure starts or ends. It’s our job to send you home pain-free after surgery. We deal with general anaesthesia; where our patient is knocked off into deep sleep and Regional Anaesthesia; where we just make the part where the surgery is to be performed go numb.
Easier said than done.
We also deal with critically ill patients in the ICU and treat patients suffering from chronic pain illnesses like arthritis, low backaches, knee pain and even pain caused by cancer which is the worst pain I think anyone can have. This involves using strong pain killers like opioids, nerve blocks, laser therapy and acupuncture.
4. What’s most challenging about Anaesthesiology?
I feel the most challenging part is dealing with emergencies. There is always an Anaesthesia team on-call for managing emergencies (code Blue team). As soon as something goes wrong; we are the first ones to be paged. So it is our adrenaline rush because we know it’s something serious. We deal with life and death on a daily basis. And keeping our sanity in these circumstances is a difficult task. We don’t realise it often because we are used to this lifestyle.
I remember a night duty in covid ICU where I had four patients collapse all at the same time. I was doing intubations, getting chest tubes put, giving chest compressions all within half an hour of my duty. A relative of a patient who was watching all this unfold said- “I m amazed at the expertise with which you are doing everything without getting scared for a moment”. His words really touched my heart. And that moment I realised, I m challenging death every second. Trying hard to defeat it. Something all Anaesthesiologists were trying to do in this pandemic.
5. We salute your work during the pandemic, where did you get the inspiration to work so hard?
I always wanted to be Doctor. I grew up thinking I will change the world. Something we all think of when we are young.
Maybe this is my chance to do my bit. I m not saying I can change the world. But even if I can save a handful of lives, it would mean the world to somebody. COVID has affected so many families. So many homes have been devastated, families shaken, children orphaned, old parents left alone and childless. I have spent nights crying in my bed thinking how helpless we all have become all of a sudden.
I know so many doctors who have lost their dear ones to covid. I lost my father in the first wave itself. I bent myself backwards trying to save him and yet I could not. So the moment I start to treat a COVID patient, I have a connection. I wish and pray in my heart that they make it through. Every day is a fight in the covid ICU. A fight between life and death.
6. What are your concerns about Digital Health?
The world is changing at a quick pace. With everything being available at the click of a button; the healthcare system isn’t far behind. It’s doing great work in terms of making people aware and connecting doctors and patients easily.
What I fear about is firstly the Privacy of the patient and his/her record being available to hackers. That one thing I would like the digital healthcare industry to address.
And secondly, in regards to Teletherapy. In teletherapy the loss of patient contact. Earlier there used to a relationship between the doctor and the patient. Of trust, support and a well-wisher which is enhanced with a face to face meeting. In times of covid, that is lost. In fact, for quite a number of diseases and their examination, we need to touch and feel the lesions/swellings which isn’t possible on teletherapy which can lead to improper diagnosis and treatment.
7. What is your message for those wanting to build a career in this field and the young generation?
To all those who want to become a Doctor and have been intimidated by things like the Covid pandemic, violence against Doctors, low pay scale and various other stuff we keep hearing; I would like to tell them that there are challenges in all fields. Be it engineering or becoming a CA or even doing a business.
But they're nothing more full filling than treating a patient successfully. Medicine is not just a vocation; it’s more than a profession, a calling to a lifetime of service to humanity. You need commitment, endurance and compassion. Three things are extremely vital in the course of becoming a doctor. Never forget that it’s a journey and you are forever learning; from the time you decide to appear in Pre Medical Tests till your last patient. You are forever learning new things in medicine and that is the beauty of it.
8. What does your typical day look like and what do you like to do besides work?
Most of my weekdays look pretty much the same unless I m on Emergency duty.
I start my day at 7:00 am. Wake up, take 15 minutes and sit with my morning coffee in my little garden and make a to-do list in my head for that day. I sometimes write in my gratitude journal during that time. I really think it’s important to count our blessings.
Usually, my husband drops me off at work. As I told you before, we either work in the operation theatre and get cases operated on according to the surgical list or we are busy managing critically ill patients in the Intensive Care Units. My day at the hospital usually ends around 5 pm (unless we get caught up in a prolonged surgery).
Once home, I take a short break while sipping black coffee, treat myself with a nice snack and then do an evening yoga session with my yoga teacher virtually.
Then comes taking care of the startup business of making fashionable scrubs and scrub caps; which I have started with a lot of passion with my friend; Dr Parul and we finish off all the pending work related to it.
I call up my mom in the evening and talk to her about my entire day and how it went and rant about all the problem I faced. She always has a calming effect on me and reassures me that everything will magically turn in my favour in the end. Mothers are real gems.
I m not an avid reader but I m trying to read books other than those related to medicine. I have been reading Khushwant Singh a lot lately. I find his uncomplicated style of writing and forward-thinking related and easygoing.
Finally, the family sits down to have dinner and relax, watch some series or a movie and chit chat about daily affairs. Finally, my husband and I make plans about all the places we wish to visit in our lifetimes as we doze off to sleep.
Jyotika Kumar - Anesthesiologist | Founder @scrubscape | Miss Delhi Times 2009
Interviewed By: Farhana Khatoon
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