Doctors and handwriting

The consequence of bad handwriting of a doctor is not always a matter of joke.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

“Bad handwriting should be regarded as a sign of an imperfect education.”

― Mahatma Gandhi, My Experiments with Truth: An Autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi

Taking cue from the above statement, one may reasonably be confused whether or not a large number of doctors who are notorious for their sloppy handwriting are perfectly educated.

A decade ago, a child specialist opened his dispensary in our small town. His fame as a good physician spread like wildfire. On the other hand, his notoriety for bad handwriting was widely admitted. Many salespersons in pharmacies dared not serve his prescriptions. They did so especially because he being a child specialist, the medicines were prescribed exclusively for little children and babies. Most of the parents would have to revisit the doctor to jot down the names of the medicines prescribed by the doctor in their own handwriting.

Once I took my one-year-old niece who had intestinal infection to him. The doctor, after a thorough check-up, scribbled a few medicines with his fountain pen. After a cursory reading of the prescription, I was convinced that it was beyond my capability to decipher the names of the medicines scrawled on the prescription in blue ink. However, I was certain that the experienced pharmacist in my familiar drug store must be able to unscramble the handwriting, however illegible it might be.

To my utter disappointment, the aged pharmacist employed all his efforts but failed to trace all the medicines clearly. He advised me to revisit the doctor and rewrite the full prescription in block letters in my own handwriting on a piece of paper. Therefore, I could not help revisiting the doctor. The doctor was explicitly annoyed as many persons were sitting on the benches in the antechamber with prescriptions. However the doctor solved my problem by rewriting the names of the medicines in bold letters on the flip side of the prescription.

There is a funny joke that a student with sloppy handwriting will probably become a doctor in future. But the consequence of bad handwriting of a doctor is not always a matter of joke. It is disheartening to note that sloppy handwriting accompanied by spelling mistakes contributes to a high incidence of medical errors in not only in India but also developed countries such as the U.S. and the U.K.

Treating a large number of patients and writing prescriptions for them simultaneously in a race against time are generally discerned as the common reasons for sloppy handwriting of the physicians.

Medical Council of India guidelines mandate that doctors must write prescriptions legibly and in capital letters using permanent ink. They must also furnish a complete and detailed prescription to ensure correct treatment. Some Latin and Greek medical terms frequently used by the practitioners need to be translated into English and the vernacular if possible. Unfortunately, this protocol is hardly followed by most of the practitioners. What is concerning to note is that there seems to be no monitoring mechanism to ensure adherence to the guidelines.

But a substantial number of doctors are not only blessed with extremely good handwriting but also take extra care while writing prescriptions. I was acquainted with a leading practitioner who used sequential art to give the prescription a comic page outlook. It would make a prescription very easy to understand and interesting simultaneously.

nandi.budha@gmail.com