Karnataka - Mangalore

‘Specialisation has affected concept of family doctors’

MANGALORE: Penchant for specialisation in medicine is gradually affecting the concept of family doctors or general practitioners, C.R. Ballal, surgeon, has said.

“Family doctor has a special role in society. More often than not, he acts as a friend, philosopher and guide. He has a pulse on every member of society, unlike specialists, who treat patients on a case-by-case basis,” he said. Presiding over a function, organised by Kalkura Foundation for release of “Arogya Samvidhana”, a book written by physician K. Ramananda Banari here on Friday, Dr. Ballal said: “The breed of family doctors is fast disappearing from society.” Observing that the number of family doctors in the city might not exceed 50, Dr. Ballal said specialists were dime a dozen, nowadays. Dr. Banari played the role of being a friend, philosopher and guide to perfection in the closely-knit community of Manjeshwar, about 20-km away from Mangalore, he said and added that the book authored by Banari was simple and easy to understand. He suggested Dr. Banari to write a book in English, aimed at informing the young medical graduates about what could be expected by them in the “real world, outside the four walls of classrooms.”

M. Shantharam Shetty, orthopaedic surgeon, who released the book, said: “Clean water, physical exercise and clean environment can prevent a majority of diseases.”

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