Kovind asks young doctors to be compassionate healers

President Ram Nath Kovind Saturday asked young medical graduates of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Rishikesh to become not just competent doctors but also compassionate healers.

"Your comforting words are as important for your patients as your treatment. Always remember that in the noble profession of healthcare, you have to be not just competent doctors but also compassionate healers," Kovind said in his address at the first convocation of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences here.

Noting that a patient should not just be treated as a medical case but as an individual oscillating between hope and despair, the President asked those in the medical profession to pursue their careers with compassion.

Appealing to the young doctors to dedicate themselves to one of the world's noblest professions in the spirit of a soldier guarding the country's frontiers, Kovind said they had now become members of an important community on whose contribution depended the success of the vision of a healthy India.

He also congratulated all those conferred with degrees, especially the women for winning all the gold medals, saying it signalled the emergence of a new India.

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda asked the young medical graduates standing on the verge of a new career to ensure that no one is denied medical treatment on account of poverty.

"Health for all was the guiding factor behind the Ayushman Bharat Yojana launched by the prime minister in September, which is the biggest health cover scheme in the world. You have to work in the same spirit," he said.