The medical community struggled throughout the Covid era, and family doctors and general practitioners in particular suffered because they were frequently the first to respond.
Both the first and second waves claimed the lives of several general practitioners (GPs) in Ahmedabad and across Gujarat. However, the time also served as an impetus for GPs all over India to adopt technology, from OPD management software to utilising messaging services like WhatsApp to obtain blood and biological tests and x-rays.
On Sunday, as the Ahmedabad Family Physicians Association (AFPA) National Conference (NATCON) 2023 came to a close, specialists from all across India discussed the future of general practitioners and the significance of family medicine as a field.
Dr Raman Kumar, the founding president of the Academy of Family Physicians of India (AFPI), stated that the average age of GPs in India today is 50 years. He said, “We are not getting many young practitioners – the reason is, the young medicos aspire to be cardiologists, neurologists or orthopaedic surgeons as they get exposed to these disciplines during their internships. We only have a few colleges offering MD in family medicine. We have already raised this concern with the Medical Council of India (MCI).”
He was one of the speakers at NATCON on Sunday. Dr Kumar continued by saying that GPs would not have adopted technology as quickly if it weren’t for Covid.
Dr Pragnesh Vachcharajani, organizing secretary of the event, seconded. He remarked, “In Gujarat, we have developed a software of patient data management on our own – idea of the interface is to pre-empt any outbreak of disease and clustering of such cases. It’s also common for the doctors to get the reports on their mobile devices. With teleconsulting during Covid, almost all doctors are now conversant with the basic technologies.”
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