Obstetrician Dr Sherene Kalloo reminded colleagues that while medicine can be a lucrative field, they must have compassion and caring for their patients.
She was speaking at the T&T Medical Association’s (T&TMA) presidential inauguration ceremony at Passage To Asia, Chaguanas, Saturday night, where outgoing president Dr Stacey Chamely handed over the baton to the incoming president Dr Chandra Saroop.
“Too many young doctors focus on the money and the status of being in the medical field as though it’s a badge of honour to boast about. It’s not. It is said that to be a doctor is to be akin to God as you have the power to save someone’s life and even bring life into the world. I have been blessed abundantly by his will and I give thanks every day that he chose me to be a vessel in this life to help others and keep humanity alive,” she said.
Kalloo said compassion and genuine care were priceless.
Kalloo received an award of honour from the association as well as Dr Ajit Kuruvilla.
She said: “About a year ago, I was moved to tears a when a patient whom I last saw nearly 20 years ago at Mt Hope Women’s Hospital reminded me why I became a doctor.
She said the woman reminded her that back in 1998 she was a patient at Mt Hope hospital and had miscarried her baby because of fibroids.
The woman related the story as though it happened yesterday. Kalloo was the registrar with the team of doctors that visited her that day and explained to her what happened.
She said the woman told her everyone left, but she stayed back and sat at her side and placed her hand on her shoulder.
Kalloo said that touch helped the woman feel better and eased the pain of her great loss.
She said when the woman told her it felt like the touch of an angel, she wondered later on whether the country’s young upcoming doctors knew that the strongest medicine was not what they learned in medical school, but what came from the heart.