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| EDITORIAL |
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| Year : 1992 | Volume
: 40
| Issue : 1 | Page : 1 |
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Manpower wastage in ophthalmology
TP Ittyerah
CBM Opthalmic Institute, Little Flower Hospital,Angamally - 683 572, Kerala, India
Correspondence Address:
T P Ittyerah
CBM Opthalmic Institute, Little Flower Hospital,Angamally - 683 572, Kerala
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
PMID: 1464445 
How to cite this article:
Ittyerah T P. Manpower wastage in ophthalmology. Indian J Ophthalmol 1992;40:1 |
We are 92 million people with a huge number of curable blinds. We have a good number of ophthalmologists (with more than 4500 members in the All India Ophthalmological Society) to cater to this population. But inspite of this the number of curable blinds in our country is still alarmingly large. One of the reason for this peculiar situation is the under-utilisation of Ophthalmologists at various sectors.
This large under utilisation of skilled and trained medical specialists at a time when we have a huge number of cataract back log is a shame to the administrators of the country. The maximum under utilisation is in the government and quasi government organisations. There are several areas where this problem is so gross and this was repeatedly represented to the government by the representatives of professional bodies like All India Ophthalmological Society and state Ophthalmological societies. Inspite of this, there are organisations where the ophthalmologists are posted as general duty doctors without getting any chance to practice ophthalmology. This is not only a huge national waste but also deprives the doctor of the professional satisfaction he or she derives while practicing what one has learned at considerable effort.
I urge the government, the Railways, P & T and other public undertakings who employ doctors to find ways and means for full utilisation of ophthalmologists in their organisation.
Besides government organisations there are lot of private and voluntary organisations where ophthalmologists are not given a chance to practice ophthalmology due to envy and petty politics among ophthalmologists.
Before we urge the government and the administration to create circumstances for proper utilisation of ophthalmologists. it is our prime duty to allow our own junior colleague to utilise their skills properly for the betterment of the society.
Another area of under utilisation of trained manpower is under utilisation of our own skills. I knew ophthalmologists taking much interest in service clubs or business without giving proper attention to the great profession they have learned. At the interest of the society and millions of curable blind, I urge them to take more interest in the profession and utilise their skills in ophthalmology.
Many of us are right handed persons and few are left handed persons. When we do surgery our dominant hand only works properly. Infact one can train the nondominant hand also and utilise it to do better surgery. It increases your skill and saves your time and money. If a right handed person looses his capacity to use the right hand he is able to do most of the work with the left hand. So once we train the non-dominant hand we can perform much better.
When knife section was used in olden days for cataract surgery, there were several good surgeons who could use both hands equally well. Unfortunately that trend is disappearing. We cannot afford this. Infact we have carne to a stage that one may have to use not only both the hands but also both the feet for sophisticated surgeries of the eye. So it is a good practice to train your both hands and both feet as early as possible to acquire good skill in your profession. Every finger and toe of the ophthalmologists should be utilised to the maximum for improving the surgical skills. Let us work for full utilisation of all the ophthalmologists of the country for eradication of blindness and let all ophthalmologist utilise their skills to cure the curable blind.
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