Serbian Doctors That Revived Hearts and Faith!
Lessons on how we should fill in the system gaps
We have all heard of horrible medical systems allowing sick patients to wait far too long for treatment and often die due to the wait. The following is a heartwarming story about a group of self-sacrificing doctors who decided that this had to stop.
The city of Niš (pronounced Neash) in Serbia is famous for being the birthplace and residence of several Roman Emperors, including Constantine The Great. It also has the world’s famed Skull Tower — a stone structure embedded with 1,000 skulls! The Skull Tower is crafted from the heads of Serb civilians and soldiers who dared to rebel against the invasion of the then-mighty Ottoman Turkish Empire.
As a result, in 1809, the Ottomans killed 1,000 people and made this architectural spectacle to scare off the masses and force them into complete submission. But, alas, the people’s spirit wasn’t afraid, and they continued fighting until they finally achieved complete independence.
In today’s modern society, we struggle against different powers differently.
However, the locals of Niš won another battle recently and proved that we should not give up when facing trouble but must unite towards a solution.
A team of outstanding medical professionals decided to work tirelessly to restore the injustice of the broken medical and government systems. They voluntarily spent 12 weekends (nearly 3 months) working without pay to eradicate a surgical patient waitlist. As a result, the waitlist of 149 patients has, due to their charitable times and efforts, now been reduced to only 42 patients!
“Operations that last year had to wait 3–4, and sometimes even 6 months, will no longer have to wait,” said Doctor Milić.
To help patients, the Niš Cardiac Surgery Clinic doctors decided at the beginning of December last year to perform surgeries on weekends without financial compensation.
Their response was: “It’s not all about money.”
They initially wrote to the Ministry of Health, expecting permission and materials for work. However, the Ministry did not answer them. When faced with this difficulty, they replied, “We don’t have time for bureaucratic stamps!”
Despite this, they started working on January 20th voluntarily, even having to personally provide the cost of materials for this charitable work. Weekend work emerged as the only possible solution because Saturdays and Sundays were the only days and times they could provide more beds in intensive care.
The waiting lists have been there for years and are growing and therefore seen as something that must be eliminated.
“The waiting list for cardiac surgery may not be the longest, but it is the most dangerous because people die waiting.” said the interviewed doctors.
When this idea came about as a solution, some opinions arose that the team would be tired and exhausted if it were to be done.
And how are we not tired when we work privately? It seems that money deprives us of fatigue; when we are not paid, we are tired — said Dr. Milić.
This is not the first time or first town where this has occurred. It is common in in former Yugoslavia that doctors will band together to cut down wait times. They view this act as ethically fulfilling the Hippocratic Oath they had sworn to when becoming medics. While it is not the first time, it is the most recent inspiring story, and their sacrifice is admirable.
