The “Buzz Desire” Survey

The “Buzz Desire” Survey

 “A community which cannot recognize and be proud of its symbols needs to introspect”.

The red cross on a doctors or pharmacists vehicle or visiting card is recognized by the commoners as the symbol of medicine. This lack of awareness regarding medical symbols is not only restricted to those who are not part of the medical fraternity. Many doctors and health personnel are not aware of the medical symbols and their significance. “Yes, the layperson still identifies the red cross with the doctors. Even medical students need to be aware of the symbols pertaining to the health profession” echoes Dr Parmod Kumar Goyal Prof & Head, Department of Forensic Medicine, and an expert of medical jurisprudence at Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Bathinda, Punjab, India.

Ideally, the doctors, nurses, pharmacists and all health professionals should identify with their symbols and be proud of them. “I use the doctor’s logo on my vehicle, and I feel we should use the symbol and be proud of it” says Dr Gagan Khanna-A professor of Orthopaedics at Sri Guru Ram Das University of Health and Science, Amritsar, Punjab, India. Most doctors recognize the Caduceus as the symbol for doctors but they don’t know about the term Caduceus. A study published in Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research in 2014 pointed out that only 6% of doctors were aware that the rod of Asclepius is the true symbol of healing. We have not yet overcome the ignorance regarding our symbols. “Infact, in the USA most commercial and corporate hospitals use the Caduceus” points out Dr Sandeep Sidhu MD, FACP, University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix.

‘Buzz Desire’ circulated a google form based questionnaire to the medical, dental, nursing students and faculty. Only 3% of students and 6% of faculty could reach the 40% score. Many respondents of the questionnaire gave the feedback that the questionnaire was very tough and required a meticulous ‘google search’.  “A community which cannot recognize and be proud of its symbols needs to introspect”. The introspection would reveal that these symbols should be part of the curriculum in professional colleges. The foundation course in the MBBS course needs to create a window wherein these symbols and their   significance should be taught to medical students. The symbols say something and these should not be ignored.