THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Phichit hospital director named top rural doctor for 2015

Phichit hospital director named top rural doctor for 2015

DR KITTICHOT Tangkittithavon, director of Tapan Hin Crown Prince Hospital in Phichit, has been named the Best Rural Doctor of the Year 2015. He pledged to carry on his duty to fight major health challenges in the rural area: Non-communicable diseases (NCD

The committee to choose the best rural doctor of 2015 nominated Dr Kittichot from among 16 candidates. He was acknowledged as a dedicated doctor who had worked in the hospital at his hometown for nearly 30 years. The award was presented at a ceremony at the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital yesterday.
Mahidol University's Siriraj Hospital Medical School awards the best rural doctor of the year title annually. It honours the doctor who has worked for more than five years in rural areas and has an outstanding profile that can be an example for new medical students and other doctors. 
Dr Kittichot said he was very pleased to be awarded this honoured prize, which was a reward for hard work in providing healthcare for the people in rural areas – not just for him but for all his medical team at the hospital.
“Rural doctors’ main health issues are the rise of NCDs, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, among the population in the rural area and also difficulties in providing proper healthcare for elderly people,” he said.
“The reward gives me and our medical team a morale boost to fight these challenges and we will do our best to take care of the people’s healthcare.”
He disclosed that these health problems were often because of changes in average age and lifestyle of the people in rural areas – and the problems for rural doctors today were different from the past.
“The major problem that most people think of when talking about healthcare in rural areas is the lack of medical personnel and equipment. However, as of now, this problem has been much relieved. When I started working at Tapan Hin Crown Prince Hospital in 1987 there were only six doctors, but now our team has 13,” he said.
As for the issue that many rural doctors could not stay in the area for a long time, he suggested the close relationship with the community would make the doctors want to work in the area and greatly reduced problems between doctor and patient. But first, the doctors themselves had to love and take a good care of the people.
“These days, the skillful doctor may not [always be] the beloved doctor. There are a lot of cases where doctors have been sued and it is essential that all medical staffs have the dedication in spirit to win the hearts of the people,” he said. 
Dr Mongkol na Songkhla, former Public Health Minister and the Best Rural Doctor of 1975, also stated that the goal for successful healthcare missions in the rural area was a good relationship and close cooperation between medical staff and the community.
Dr Kittichot received a trophy and Bt200,000 grant from Siriraj Medical School, Bt20,000 from Terumo Company, and Bt100,000 from Bangchak Petroleum as rewards for his achievement.
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