The Medical Council of Guyana needs to give this doctor a reality check

Jul 29, 2018 Letters

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Dear Editor,

In my years of going to medical professionals, I have never experienced or heard such awful experiences of women like myself receiving care from a particular male obstetrician/gynecologist. I have decided to share my experience with this obstetrician/gynecologist due to the number of responses I have received from other women about their hurtful encounters with him. It must be noted that all of this is written from the perspective of a young woman seeking help. Also, if you have had a positive experience with this doctor, you should feel grateful but do not make me feel like I or other women shouldn’t express our concern with his behaviour towards patients. He could have been wonderful towards you but that cannot serve as an excuse for how he behaved with other patients.
At his office, his motto is written under his esteemed qualifications. His religious belief is expressed through his horribly executed statements and questions. Two days ago, I along with two other persons visited this gynecologist’s office. To my surprise, we were welcomed by a doctor who had an attitude problem with his arms folded and distasteful tone. As the patient listed her symptoms, he began to question her judgment. She stated that she has been experiencing irregular periods. You’ll love the response he gave to that. “Oh, women go through that normally”. Sir, you cannot come to that assumption without a physical examination or tests. Furthermore, responding like this creates a hostile environment. Patients would be unwilling or even afraid to share their other symptoms if you dismiss it so casually. His tone reminded us that we are indeed powerless to doctors. Additionally, other symptoms like pelvic pain and weight gain were given to this doctor. His response to these symptoms was “symptoms from the past are irrelevant”. Now, doctors go through years of medical school. I would assume that they learn how to properly treat patients and to also know how to console them if anything goes wrong. From this experience, not only do I question his medical knowledge but I also question his character. In his office, his achievements are proudly placed. However, this isn’t the man we met in that office. With his responses, we raised important questions about our uncertainty about his prognosis. Eventually, he kept repeating that we were crazy and he ended his consultation by saying “you guys are crazy, whatever you plan on finding, you wouldn’t find it here”. He created an unwelcoming environment which made us leave his office immediately after that comment. After we left and even up to now, it still hasn’t sunk in that a doctor was so unprofessional towards us. I’m sure you are thinking that they are two sides to a story. Although that is true, accompanying situations from other women prove that this man is horrible towards his patients. One woman commented on our Facebook post that she was told that she is too young to be pregnant and that if she was his younger sister, he would beat her. What I took away especially from other comments on our Facebook page was that this doctor had a problem with women who were unmarried. Who are you to judge me about being unmarried? I came to you with concerns about my health and you judged me and chased me away because you didn’t like my marital status. How dare you? How dare you! You took an oath which stated that you will care and respect for your patients while offering your MEDICAL HELP. You had no right to chastise me because you did not agree with my choices.
Now, this is where the meat of the article is in. The Guyana Medical Council. You are responsible for ensuring that all doctors treat their patients with respect along with monitoring the performances of each licensed doctor. So, I do hope this letter reaches to you. Investigate him. Christianity or any other religious domination should not and should never be influenced in medical practices. You can belong to any religion but if you are in the medical field and you cannot use your religious beliefs to treat people in a disdainful way. Which religion teaches people to be cruel? I probably missed that page when I was reading the holy book. I do have a feeling that this may not be taken seriously. We know that people in power are influenced by money and social standing. This letter will serve as the first step in having the Medical Council review this doctor’s behaviour.
Lastly, I want to dedicate this letter to the women who have experienced psychological trauma from his approach towards patient care. If any doctor treats you like this, it is just them not you. I believe you. There are other trustworthy and kind medical professionals that can assist you. I have to believe that they are. Actually, from what I have read, they are! To conclude with, Doctor, if you are reading this, I do hope that you take your patient’s health seriously. I hope that you treat them with care and respect. After all, these patients are paying for your retirement plan.

Juliana Lopes

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