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A DOCTOR’SPRESCRIPTIONTO WRITEMedical practitioners aren’t always known for their empathy, and writers aren’t known for their methodology; Chanwalee Srisukho is masterful at combining the twoIt was quite an eye-opening moment because when you learn about someone’s life, you find yourself being less judgementalWriting is not just a means of artistic expression or of communication but can affect the shape of the heart. Dr Chanwalee Srisukho is testament to this, finding that writing softened her and left her more receptive to patients’grievances.Dr Chanwalee, a gynaecologist at a general hospital in Pichit Province, wonthe 2013 Chommanard Book Prize. The prize was not her first, as she already has over 10 book awards under her belt after publishing some 50 books – 10 works of fiction and non-fiction, and the rest about medical topics for general readers. Yet before writing about the lives of her patients, Dr Chanwalee was a brooding practitioner who often argued with patients.“I was highly judgemental, insensitive, and I hardly listened to patients,” said Dr Chanwalee in an exclusive interview with Elite+. “If patients asked for more medicine, I would tell them to go to the pharmacy, and if they wanted to stay in hospital longer, I would tell them that this is a hospital, not a hotel. Looking back, I only healed the disease, not the patients.”In 1997, Dr Chanwalee started penning short stories for medical journals, newspapers and magazines. Indeed, writing had always been a favourite pastime. Her late mother was a poet, writer, dancer and radio show presenter in Chiang Mai. Young Chanwalee was so good at writing that a teacher once gave her a 10.5 score out of 10 for her composition homework. Becoming a medical doctor robbed her of writing time, but after finishing medical school she still managed to compose articles or poems and send them to medical magazines or to commercial periodicals or newspapers such as Dichan or Matichon. Editors liked her work and suggested she write more about patients and hospital life. That forced the brooding, obstinate doctor to take a closer look at the lives and personal backgrounds of her patients. “It was quite an eye-opening moment because when you learn about someone’s life, you find yourself being less judgemental.”Dr Chanwalee held a long bias against women who performed illegal abortions, for example. As a gynaecologist, she had to take care of women injured from illegal abortions. Treating an injured mother was one thing, butElite+ 61