Cutting to the chase
Dr Dayanand spoke to the ZO after recently moving to the area and starting his own private practice at Melomed Hospital
HAVING patients use Google to self-diagnose themselves is just one of the challenges that Dr Avindra Dayanand (40) has to take in his stride as a General Surgical Specialist.
‘Sometimes our patients aren’t happy with the way we chose to resolve a problem, they have their own idea of how things should be done, with the use of Google and so forth, and I always tell them that I have a two-fold job, firstly to help you and solve your problem and secondly to do it safely.’
Dr Dayanand spoke to the ZO after recently moving to the area and starting his own private practice at Melomed Hospital.
With his wife also in the medical field, and an 18-month-old baby to take care of, Dr Dayand said taking the decision to start his own practice in a new area and juggle the aspect of being a young father was something he had to think long and hard about.
‘My wife is also a doctor so she understands what it takes and understands what we came here to do – work.
‘I also have a toddler so it wasn’t a rushed decision, we thought very carefully about our move here.’
And while Richards Bay doesn’t seem to offer as much as the city life would, Dr Dayanand seems to be content with the little things.
‘We’re away from the city for the first time, and there’s not much to do in the area, but there are a lot of family orientated things to do and I like that part.
‘I mean you could take a drive to the mall and not worry about not finding parking.
‘I must say though, what has struck me about the Richards Bay community is just the general daily common courtesy that people have, that we missed in the city.
‘I found that people were very receptive towards us being new here and that’s the type of community you want to serve,’ he told the ZO.
State vs private
Before joining Melomed, Dayanand had been based solely in the state sector in Durban, something he felt helped him deal with the aspect of private practice.
‘My experience in state is actually helping me here in the private sector.
‘In state, because of resource limitations, your scope of practice and your scope of managing patients is very directed – you don’t have the resources or time to do unnecessary investigations, tests or procedures.
‘So I’ve found that I’ve carried through those principals into the private sector, where patients are sorted very quickly, and it is very directed as to what you have to do for them.
‘That helps the hospital financially as well because the turnover is good, I mean you can’t have a patient coming in and sitting in your ward for two weeks, yes financially the outcome is good for the hospital and the doctor but not for the patient.
‘I know it’s sort of cliché, but the saying “it’s all about the patient,” is true, and it’s only once you’ve been a patient yourself, when you’re on the other side of the system, that you actually notice the flaws in the system itself.
‘If a patient doesn’t need something I will talk them out of it.
‘One of my mentors in Durban always said “what we do is very invasive, there’s no coming back from what we do, so a good surgeon knows when not to operate”.
‘I can convince you that you need anything done, but I think it’s part of our medical oath and our principals to offer the best service for the correct patient at the right time,’ he said.
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