O Doctor, O Doctor, Of Today’s Modern World! Poem by Dr John Celes

O Doctor of today’s modern world, you have not changed!
Your system of modern medicine is deranged;
The former glory of thine profession is lost;
Ethics in medicine has turned to be a ghost;
Thine nobility and chastity too are gone
For sins of yester-years, you must atone!

O Doctor, get thine mind, heart, body, spirit healed first,
Before you start to treat the patient next;
Your patients come to you routinely through touts,
Embroiled are you so often in consumer courts!
Commissions and omissions too have changed your heart;
You have to make a new beginning, a new start;
Thine divine healing touch and soothing words are lost;
With image gone, of God-like powers you cannot boast;

Outdated is your knowledge and not the latest;
Your treatment seems outmoded and never the best;
And often charged you’re with professional misconduct,
Your diagnoses are not totally correct;
Who can afford thine ‘high tech’ care and treatment cost?
Your tender touch and loving care are things of the past;
Your patients become better despite your treatment;
’Tis Mother Nature who cures him of his ailment!

These days the coat of white has lost its dignity!
Your heart’s afilled with professional rivalry;
Health has become a lucrative industry;
Today, you are a trouble to humanity;
Corrupt, impatient and greedy, you lack sympathy;
At times your behavior amounts to apathy;
You can’t expect reward on earth for your work today;
God may not bless you but curse you His way!

Your prescriptions are dangerous to patient;
The adverse effects outdo the prime effects meant;
Much longer goes your iatrogenic list;
O Doctor, just think awhile and retrace your false steps;
Is plagiarism short-cut to stardom?
Conferences as an utter waste, people condemn;
Your income is many times more than you declared;
The Hippocratic Oath has been forgotten – sad!

Human life’s the most precious commodity;
Things don’t happen always by serendipity;
Sometimes, the quack seems much better someway;
Your service must be done in a humble way;
O learned one, make full use of your knowledge gained;
Avoiding misdemeanor, see your soul isn’t stained;
Medical ethics must be practiced without fail;
Or else your account to God could be a sorry tale!