Prof Zabidi introduced M.E.R.C.I. for medical ethics at the PBL workshop today. In his deliberation, he mentioned traditional medicine. I was thinking whether I can bring back my lecture on History of Medicine and the various traditional medicines into our curriculum.M=medical issues and correct diagnosis;
E=empathy towards patient;
R=respect for patient;
C=communication skills;
I=insight.
**Insight (I) is where traditional medicine comes in
**Communication (C) includes knowing sensitive words which the pt likes/don't like, and words in the other languages in our community
**Empathy (E) is how would you feel if you were the pt or the pt's relative Sensitive words are: OKU, cacat, etc
Previously i think we have not been given any formula on how a PBL should run, but I found that this formula is a good guideline for us to learn medicine more holistically. I have touched a little bit on Bio-Psycho-Social aspect of patient management in previous post.
I would like to further discuss on the MERCI concept with regard to insight in traditional medicine. I have asked Prof. Dr. Faridah Abdul Rashid on Facebook comment how to integrate traditional medicine inside PBL trigger and this the reply "When you discuss in PBL, there is always room to ask the pt re his/her attitude, faith or belief, preference, likes or dislikes re traditional medicine or alternative medicine. It pays hv insight and to ask the pt the right questions and to listen to what the pt has to say. Then work on that."
Traditional medicine is the pearl of our ancestors' wisdom, it has been playing an important role before the era of orthodox medicine. In the process some abandoned their own traditional medicine, and some integrate it into the modern medicine. If it is useful, why don't we use it ? Although some of the traditional medicine can be criticized as not effective, but some has impressed me a lot. I have seen documentary in China regarding a girl who undergone open heart surgery without general anesthesia. She remains conscious in the whole process and could describe to us what actually happened inside the surgical room despite her heart was to made to stop beating for an hour. This is an example of how beautifully western anesthesia and Chinese acunpuncture work hand in hand in a surgery.
In my previous ethnic study in year 2, I did my project on the topic "Perubatan Tradisional di Malaysia"with my friends, and luckily there are also some books in Perputakaan Hamdan Tahir regarding this matter. From those book i found out that how different if the philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine with those in western medicine. Different physiology, definition of health and disease, pathogenesis, and I think if there is differences whereby both method is working for human being, there must be a common ground for both to work hand in hand for the maximum benefits of patient.
Also, i mentioned in my conclusion for ethnic study that traditional medicine must be conserved, because it still serve as the major choice of multicultural society of Malaysia, due to the fact that the cultural value of traditional medicine is more closely related to daily living of Malaysians. Malaysians might more comfortable in seeking help from traditional medicine compared to western medicine. Since, there's patient autonomy to respect and to yield maximum benefits for the patient, why don't we try to accept the good part of traditional medicine into our practice ?
Sabbe Satta Sukhi Hontu
May All Be well and Happy
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