Three young doctors turn do-gooders to serve people

Shabad: Adding a sense of responsibility to their profession, three young doctors from Hyderabad embarked on a philanthropic journey of serving the underprivileged people in rural areas by practising their profession in a relatively less privileged area.

The three doctors' Dr S Anurag Reddy, Dr T Rahul Reddy and Dr G Rakshith are serving in Mariyapuram village of Shabad Mandal in Ranga Reddy district ever since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Having realised the necessity of a primary health centre in rural areas, they established a free 'wellness clinic' for villagers of the Mandal to provide timely treatment to people suffering from seasonal diseases besides periodical contagions.

Though Dr S Anurag Reddy and Dr T Rahul Reddy graduated last year only, both of them are serving the rural people even before they were professionally recognised. Now as they are professionally recognised they spend much of their time attending villagers visiting the free clinic to avail free health care for better treatment.

Dr G Rakshit, an Emergency Medicine Consultant, joins the team during weekends and often makes himself available for emergency cases. Though Dr Rahul made Mariyapuram his abode, Dr Anurag travels the village daily.

Explaining about the reason that took them to a rural area having no proper access to specialised health care services, Dr Rahul said, "People especially in rural areas like Shabad mandal in Ranga Reddy are having least access to specialised treatment for their ailments. Most of the people here are daily wage labourers. While they cannot afford treatment in private hospitals, the government hospitals too are overwhelmed with the patients all the time. This situation often prevents people from getting treatment on time that may lead to deteriorating health."

"Our job begins from 8 am finishes post dusk," he said adding that "We divided the work in two shifts like 8.30 am to 12.30 pm and 3.30 pm to 8.00 pm."

"Daily we attend around 10 to 15 people from Mariyapuram and surrounding villages like Keshagudam, Arogyapuram, Kummarguda, Cherlaguda and Asspalliguda in the Mandal. For normal ailments we suggest medication. But patients with serious medical concerns would be referred to doctors in our friend circle and working in different other hospitals to ensure that they get better treatment on time," explained Dr Anurag.

"Besides providing health care services by establishing a free clinic in the village, we are educating the people about the importance of vaccination. We often participate in vaccination drives and even campaigning for booster dose jabs to make people remain on safe side when it comes to protection of their health from unwanted contagions. Thankfully, the Mariyapuram along with surrounding villages are completely vaccinated," said Dr Rakshit.