Sunday Times E-Paper

An outstanding clinician

Nalaka Mendis

At the time I started my undergraduate clinical work in the late ’60s, Prof. David Chanmugam had the reputation of being a brilliant academic clinician. He was highly respected by the members of the profession as an extremely clever young clinician with great potential. As I got to know Prof. Chanmugam over the years I realized increasingly why he earned this reputation.

I was first exposed to Prof. Chanmugam when I started my two-month clinical attachment at the academic medical of the General Hospital Colombo in 1970. Later, while working as an intern medical officer, I had the opportunity of observing Prof. Chanmugam more closely as he took care of patients in half of the female ward, the Consultant Physician whom I worked with being in-charge of the other half of the ward, and these patients therefore being under my direct watch. After I joined the Colombo Medical Faculty in 1974 as a junior colleague, when he was a senior staff member of the Department of Medicine, I also had the good fortune of interacting with him on academic and clinical matters.

Finally, when he lived overseas I had a number of opportunities of meeting him during his visits to Sri Lanka, because we lived in the same neighbourhood in Jawatta Road.

Though my relationship with Prof. Chanmugam was episodic spanning a long period of time, these interactions left a deep and lasting impression on me at a crucial period of my professional life. He struck me as a unique individual with rare qualities, which the profession could be proud of.

What struck me most was that Prof. Chanmugam was a quiet man of few words with sharp intellect, integrity, a person who acted in a fair and humane manner with great respect towards others. He was of firm conviction. He had a very scientific mind and a humane approach - a somewhat rare combination. His dedicated and conscientious approach to work was well recognized and he was well respected by members of the medical profession, although he had little contact with most. I remember a number of occasions when he asked me for an opinion on mental health issues related to his patients even though I had been his student only just a few years earlier.

As a clinical teacher he emphasized the need to have a comprehensive approach to clinical practice by combining scientific medical facts, clinical competencies and patient-centred care at a time when biomedicine was dominating the clinical practice. He was, therefore, ahead of his time. Many students saw this approach as very refreshing.

He had the unique ability to combine the disease model and person-centred care approach for the benefit of the patient, in the process gaining satisfaction from the clinical encounter. He was sensitive to patient needs and treated his patients with compassion and empathy. As an academic he had a very sharp and perceptive mind with a special interest in Haematology.

I consider it a privilege to have had the opportunity of interacting with a person as unique as Prof. Chanmugam who had many qualities attributable to a “good doctor”. May the unique attributes of Prof. Chanmugam be a leading light to our profession in Sri Lanka.

LETTERS/APPRECIATIONS

en-lk

2021-06-20T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-20T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://sundaytimes.pressreader.com/article/282428467145597

Wijeya Newspapers