Family doctors’ role go beyond care
Invasion leaves indelible mark on Dr Khalid
This is the second and last in a series of articles on Dr Khalid Abdullah Al Anezi, a dedicated young family doctor passionate about helping people Although
all during the invasion no harm came to him or to any member of his family, what Khalid saw and heard made him realize what he had been taking for granted as seen in a new perspective. What Khalid experienced was the revival of the old Kuwaiti spirit of community and the feeling of mutual concern and cooperation, which had been lost in the glamour of modern living.
As the months went by, the people living in a limbo of expectations and worries rejoiced when they heard preparation for war was finally put underway, in spite of the spectrum of death was hanging over them. Indeed they were impatient for the war to start because it was the only means by which they could regain their land and their freedom from Iraq.
War and brutal force was the only language the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein understood; any resolutions passed by the Security Council at the United Nations against it could not force such a regime to change its policy and retreat peacefully from the land. When finally Saddam Hussein was given an ultimatum and he persisted on defying international laws, the Gulf war was implemented.
In town everyone was rejoicing in spite of the danger hanging overhead. When the threat of a chemical warfare circulated through town, everyone got busy sealing any space under windows and doors with wet towels and making simple masks with charcoal ready for used. After the chemical threat subsided and the ground attack began, Khalid and his family left the grandmother’s house and moved into an empty one with a basement in it, as did other families for protection.
Coalition
Realizing he was losing the war against the coalition army, Saddam ordered the implementation of the burned land scheme on Kuwait, blowing up water and electricity plants, destroying the whole infrastructure of the oil economy and setting on fire the entire oil-field that turned day into night. The ensuing dreary silence spelling death was a nightmare that frightened Khalid.
During the ground attack when all around explosion of bombs was shaking the house, Khalid with other youngsters was in a little room. He saw his mother crying and his father tense, he himself was afraid soldiers would come to drag him away as they did with other teenagers.
On the last night, the eve of the liberation, the rumbling, the firing and the tension going on around him made him fall asleep, when he woke up in the morning hearing from those around him that the Iraqi had gone, Kuwait was free, he felt overpowered by emotions so intense that he ran out of the house in a burst of joy. All through the night it had been raining but the morning was dry and shining. When he went out on the street smelling the fresh air of freedom he saw people hugging and kissing, women crying with joy, the whole town had come to life with congested traffic on the road and young people leaving their vehicles dancing on the street.
Emotions
In that flare of kindled emotions Khalid felt like a drop in a sea of rebirth, the feeling was so intense that he became more deeply aware of the meaning of country, of life itself. What he experienced then remained indelible in his heart and soul; indeed it triggered a feeling of belonging to his country that got stronger as he became older.
In the aftermath of the liberation mines and explosives disguised as toys scattered in empty houses and public places claimed many young victims; alert to the danger the authorities waged a campaign instructing people to be aware of picking up anything innocent looking, while carrying extensive mine sweeping throughout the land. When schooling began Khalid joined the groups of volunteers cleaning up the school and painting the walls.
The tension and worries he experienced all through the invasion and his involvement in doing manual jobs helping around, triggered a feeling of responsibility and commitment towards his country that affected his outlook on life; that same feeling made him excel in his study and graduate from high school with good grades one year earlier to compensate for the lost time during the invasion.
At graduation in 1996, he joined the Faculty of Medical science; his first two years at the Kuwait University were the happiest in his young life; he liked the feeling of community he felt at the College in which students are treated with the respect and dignity due to responsible young adults.
Experience
Life at the university was a new experience — a life of responsibilities and commitments to which he took enthusiastically. There was a time when he felt intimidated by the difficulty of the subject he was studying, but reasoning with himself that nothing of greatness comes without pain or struggle, he regained his courage and the determination to continue and succeed.
Life at the university was far from being only study, there were other commitments and involvements that made the seven year he spent there a happy, rewarding experience during which he made many friends. He became involved in student’s election, in orienting fresh students at the University and taking part in outdoor activities.
At graduation from the Medical College in 2003, Khalid joined the Amiri Hospital as a trainee. In the following year he joined the Surgery Department at the Amiri trying to discover a field of specialization to which he could give the whole of himself to his profession. Six months later he joined the Internal Medicine Department at the Mubarak Hospital, still searching for a field more congenial to his temperament and mental inclination. Eventually after being introduced to Family Medicine by a friend ,a family doctor practitioner in one of the policlinics in town, who invited him to his office to see for himself how the doctor-patient relation was there, Dr Khalid was so enticed with the atmosphere at the clinic that he realized this was the specialization he was looking for.
Fortunately at that time the Royal College of Family Physicians in the UK was looking for new recruits; in 2006 Dr. Khalid joined the Family Medicine training program sponsored by the RCGP international and graduated in as a Family Doctor & Certified member of the Royal College of general practitioners in 2010, by 2011 he became a certified trainer at the Family Medicine program.
As a Family doctor at the policlinic, Khalid Al Ghuneim Health center Dr Khalid soon discovered that the atmosphere of doctor-patient interaction is very conductive to a good communication with the patient, therefore helping in the diagnosis of the problem, especially in situations when symptoms can be misleading. Communication of family doctor at policlinics with the general hospital is also spurring the cooperation of general hospitals in treating patients needing special treatment.
Strategic
Dr Khalid is a believer in the strategic importance of communication not only for the welfare of patients at clinics and hospitals, but also in turning events in a system disrupted by the so called Wasta.”
Already he is seeing some improvement in the health service, but more needs to be done; for instance to save time and avoid unnecessary trouble it has now become imperative the adopting of electronic filing of patients in hospitals. (Currently filing is done according to the old system implemented in 1962 by Abdul Aziz Al Saqer, the first minister of public health after Kuwait became an independent country on the 19th of June 1961.) In Policlinics more medical staff is needed, this problem is being solved with the rising number of young Kuwaiti doctor’s graduates.
As for the ‘Wasta’ spreading corruption in the country, information spreading through electronic gadgets in particular and mass-media in general has been making people more aware of its disrupting consequences affecting their lives and wellbeing. Such awareness is making people more alert to and conscious of what is affecting their lives, spurring term to cooperate to turning events in their favor ultimately benefitting their country.