The Doctor Who Inflicts Pain on Himself to Understand the Pain of Patients
Dr. Nitin Joshi of Nanded, Maharashtra is a unique doctor. For the first time in medical history a doctor has inflicted pain on himself to understand the pain felt by patients who undergo an intrusive intervention such as Endoscopy. An Endoscopy is done to look inside the body and is most common in Gastrointestinal (GI) tract investigations. In this procedure an Endoscope is used to probe the interior of a hollow organ or a cavity of the body.
Dr. Joshi has performed this test on more than seven thousand patients so far. He is aware that while conducting this test patients are sometimes partly anaesthesized and often not anasthesized at all. Although very advanced instruments are available these days to conduct the procedure relatively faster and less painfully, at most places the insertion of the endoscope in the human body causes a lot of pain.
Dr. Joshi is quite candid on his objective to inflict the pain on himself. He says that when he has experimented the procedure on himself it is easier for him to know what a patient goes through. It is also easy to counsel patients especially from rural areas on what the procedure is. He thinks after going through this procedure on himself, he can be a better doctor with greater understanding of the procedure and can perform it in a correct manner.
The accompanying video clip shows Dr. Joshi performing upper GI tract Endoscopy on himself. Kudos to this unique doctor!
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