Photogenic doctors
WE, in Kuwait, have been witnessing a phenomenon hardly seen in any other country — that of attaching the photos of doctors to advertisements along with a detailed description of their fields of specialization. Titles usually precede the names of doctors. All over the world, it is known that professions involving people such as medical, legal and engineering professions are not promoted through commercial advertisements because they are considered humane and personal professions.
You choose a certain doctor, engineer or lawyer because of his good reputation and success in his previous works. Accordingly, you are not supposed to be influenced by commercial advertisements about such high professions.
The disaster is that many doctors who promote themselves by attaching their photos to commercial advertisements work in public hospitals in the morning and run their private clinics in the afternoon. This is blatant overlapping. Can an engineer who works at Kuwait Municipality or Ministry of Public Works open an office to do engineering jobs at night? Is it allowed for a lawyer at the Fatwa and Legislation Department or the Ministry of Justice to manage a legal consultation office where he receives his clients?
These issues have been neglected and many individuals have asked me to highlight and write about them, so we can find solutions to such abnormal conditions. I am not targeting any of my brother doctors as I have tens of friends and relatives among them.
In a related topic, Kuwaiti dailies published photos of the new health minister – Sheikh Dr Mazen Al-Jarrah. We saw him on field tours, visiting and inaugurating new clinics. We remained silent reluctantly, because many hours were spent on these visits. It would have been
better if the minister spent those hours studying issues and violations in his ministry (that competes with Kuwait Municipality and the Ministry of Public Works), in addition to finding solutions.
Recently, all newspapers published on their front pages photos of the young minister while a young girl was undergoing surgery. The photos did not show the minister doing the surgery, as he was either glancing at the camera or smiling at the doctors and nurses around him.
We say, well done doctor, but you have been appointed as minister in order to tackle countless shortcomings in your ministry. Doing surgeries is the job of tens of doctors who were tasked to do so. It is their duty for which they receive salaries. Even if a day consisted of 48 hours instead of 24, time will not be enough for you to handle contemporary issues at the ministry.
We hope you do not neglect the overseas treatment issue that cost the public treasury about KD 1 million, used recently to buy the MPs’ loyalty because they are not trustworthy?!!