I am often asked “Why Community Medicine?”, “So do you see patients?”, “Are you even a doctor?”, “What exactly do you do?” and the most common question almost always accompanied with a genuine perplexity, “WHAT IS COMMUNITY MEDICINE/PREVENTIVE & SOCIAL MEDICINE?!!!”
More than a year into my residency in MD Community Medicine, I continue answering these questions very excitedly, very animatedly, very enthusiastically detailing what Community Medicine really is, to anyone willing to lend me a patient ear! However, I often find myself giving different answers to the same question. And that is because the subject of Community Medicine/Preventive & Social Medicine is too vast to be put into any particular water tight compartment. After all, it is arguably the lengthiest subject taught in MBBS. It is taught for a sizeable 3.5 years out of the 4.5 years of MBBS and has a mandatory two-months-posting dedicated to it during a twelve month internship. When having a casual conversation with my friends studying other branches of Medicine, I often ask a counter question, “What is NOT Community Medicine?” Because anything that is a part of Medical Science, can in some way or the other become a part of Community Medicine.
More than a year into my residency, I have been exposed to a potpourri of experiences, ideas and situations, largely inspiring and at times disheartening, but invariably thought provoking. With so much to learn and ponder over, I felt this could be a journey worth chronicling as it unfolds. It could turn out to be exciting, it could be mundane, but it surely is a path I would choose over any other.
This being my first attempt at writing regularly, I hope to be able to share instances, express my thoughts, ask questions or just think aloud at least twice a month.
Edit: This is the original blog I had written back in 2019, but could not sustain further...I am sure you know what "Residency" means! But what three years of residency in Community Medicine has successfully taught me is that "Public Health is all about trying and trying and...trying again". And that's exactly what I intend to do with this blog!
Image: "A Public Health Masterstroke": The Gram Sarpanch's daughter-in-law was the village ASHA (health worker) responsible for vaccinating the village children.
PC: Dr. Chitra Pandya
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