If your readers have ever been to any government hospital, everything there makes for a terrible experience.
LAHORE: This is with reference to a photograph in your edition of December 28 where a young medical student was shown painting a door at a government hospital. If your readers have ever been to any government hospital, the emotional despondency of patients and families, their financial penury, poor institutional resources and the depressing environment, all make for a terrible experience.
While young doctors and staff may have little influence over the first three of these factors, they can do something about the last and this is exactly what the student who the aforementioned picture signifies. I truly hope that this picture inspires other youngsters to volunteer their time and effort in improving things around them. I would rather that students take up such tasks, as perhaps projects over their holidays, rather than doing meaningless clerical tasks at internships which can often be a waste of time and which are often taken up just to jazz up CVs.
Wasif M Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, December 30th, 2010.
