Proud to be a health warrior

Team L&M

On World Health Day today, let us meet a young and promising doctor – Dr Vanshika Kapoor – who had just stepped out of medical college after passing her final year exams and joined hospital duties as an intern when Covid-19 struck. This was an unanticipated challenge not only for her but most of her more qualified seniors too.
Joining hospital duty was another challenging task the young medico had to face. Vanshika’s parents tried convincing her to follow lockdown like other citizens and stay home. But she was adamant. “After all, I did not take up the profession to sit at home when it needed me the most,” says Vanshika, adding she had to fight with her overly-concerned parents to be where she was most needed – the hospital. “Though we, during our internship, have an option of skipping posting for a period of up to two months which could be completed later, my conscience could not come to terms with skipping at this time,” she puts in.

For the young doctor, saving even one patient out of all at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital where she is presently interning is a big contribution. “Before deciding to become a doctor, you should make yourself  so strong emotionally that you never hold back from your duty when a patient needs you. And this is an unprecedented situation. Doctors should never deal with a life inconsiderately. We are dealing with a life that’s associated with multiple others and this is what makes our profession different from the others. If not us, then who? If not now, when?” says Vanshika who did her schooling from New Delhi’s Queen Mary’s School before moving to Pune in 2015 to pursue medicine from Dr DY Patil Medical College.
|Vanshika says she is proud to be a part of the wheel that’s moving forward for the welfare of humanity, even if it’s just a small cog. She is proud of discharging her duties, including hectic shifts that include long work hours and night duties, for at the end, “This is what makes me happy. I am doing it all for myself. At the end of the day when I look into my face in the mirror, I see a satisfied soul telling me – ‘Vanshika, you are doing the best you can’!”