Rejuvenating the Rural health care system with AYUSH and 2 Mins doctor approach

What India can implement in Rural Areas

India fares very poorly when it comes to providing affordable health facilities, this is especially seen in rural areas where number of health facilities are no match for the burgeoning number of patients . More than 70 % of health ailment can be mitigated by healthier lifestyle and including AYUSH ( Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) as part of health facilities. These traditional systems have no or little side effect , but also promote health in addition to fighting diseases. Besides boost to AYUSH will also be shot in arm for livelihood of tribals and farmers who are engaged in production of medicinal plants. Ayurveda merely does not work towards disease alleviation but works for positive state of health.

For the diseases for which AYUSH offers no cure or if the patient so desires, can be handled via allopathic medicine system. We need to train attendants who will assist the doctor and the "2 minute doctor" approach can be implemented and  large number of patients are served in  India. We will also be providing more jobs to attendants and also trainers to train them. In case you are curios what 2 mins doctor is please read on.

So the incident of "2 Mins doctor" and "20 Minutes doctor"

The Two Minute Doctor

Since some days my eyes were getting exhausted at the end of Day. I checked my diet and i was getting sufficient nutrition, also had controlled my avoidable activities in front of computer and mobile but still tiredness in eyes persisted. Curious as i was and planned my trip to an eye doctor for the first time in my life.

As i walked in the clinic, There was a dedicated cashier who was there to issue a receipt to me. I was asked to wait and and soon was called by an attendant who conducted a visual test and noted his observations in the paper. Soon a second attendant came and asked symptoms from me. He noted the symptoms and told that an additional test which will capture the strength of dilated eyes would be needed. I was administered medicine and reading for this was taken and incorporated.The second attendant also gave some general suggestions and patiently answered my queries.

Now the time came came to meet the doctor, he looked  at observations and also verified the symptoms. He gave his recommendations and i was satisifed at the thorough examination that was conducted on me. In this entire process the time that i spent with the doctor was not more than 2 minutes and i was satisfied. The total time for which i had to wait was around 10 minutes before my turn came and the entire process was probably conducted in an hour.

The Twenty Minute Doctor

Since  returning from Germany i was experiencing recurring cough which had persisted since days, i initially ignored it to allow my body immune system to deal with it. ( i have not visited any doctor from almost 8 years and rely more on ayurvedic health system). Since  i wanted to check whether its normal cough or anything serious, i decided to visit a ENT (Ear Nose Tongue) specialist. He was famous in my town for his attention to detail and it was not easy to get his appointment. 

When my turn came the doctor patiently enquired the symptoms and details. He himself conducted the tests and wrote suggestions. After a close examination that lasted for around 20 minutes , he gave his prescription and medicines. I was happy that it was normal cough and satisified with the diagnosis and personal attention that i received. Strangely even the receipt creation was also done by the doctor.

Total time for which i had to wait was around 2 hours and time spent with doctor was 20 minutes.

Learnings from the above Episodes

In the first case of "2 minutes doctor", the sub tasks were carried out by skilled attendants. They tried to help and ease the task of doctor. Entire process felt like a production belt where the prescription form has to pass through various stages before meeting the doctor.

This eventually resulted in doctor able to advise a large number of patients during the day.

In the case of "20 minutes doctor", Every activity was carried out by doctor and he just had one attendant. I waited for around 2 hrs for an appointment and later he perfectly satisfied me after the meet. However the doctor will only be able to give prescription to some patients and i saw many patients leaving as there was no appointment left. 

P.S: I appreciate the warm heartedness and love for work which kept monetary considerations away ( A quality rarely seen these days , 20 Mins doctor) , but this article has been written in mind to meet the needs of rural population of India. 

I am aware that doctors are not the only scant resource and hospitals too need to be established, but human capital is most important and takes sustained time and effort to develop.

2 Mins time is just an anology, It is the minimum time that doctor would need and cant be filled in by trained attendants.