Page 65 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL8

Preuksa Mata tells of the lives of mothers – their hopes, tragedies, sorrows and happiness in delivering and taking care of their children3 for over 15 years.The medical profession overthe past few years has introduced writing workshops for medical doctors to improve their communication skills with patients. This trend is challenging, as doctors are known for being scientific, unemotional, poor at communication – not to mention for their notoriously indecipherable handwriting!How do medical doctors become writers? More doctors are following Dr Chanwalee’s example, but they are still rare. This year’s winner of the Chommanard Award is again a medical doctor, Suranee Buranabenja- sathien, who wrote about her four-year experience of being on trial after being sued by a relative of a patient who had died.Dr Chanwalee admits many doctors lack time and language proficiency to write well. Yet medicaldoctors are equipped with the right mindset that enables them to think rationally and clearly – qualities of a good writer. On the other hand, a doctor’s unemotional mindset prevents them from empathy in hospitals. “We see blood, sorrow and people dying every day. But that emotional trauma is just another case for us, and part of daily experience. So we might not be as touched by emotional grievance the same way writers are.”Another drawback is doctors’ fascination with information. While it is necessary for writers to be informed and precise, most doctors tend to dump too much information into their stories. “We just don’t know what is too much and what is balance.”In her early days, editors would ask her to tone down some of the gruesome details of operating rooms. “I passionately described bloodand organs without knowing those expressive scenes made my editors nauseated,” she said with laugh.Now Dr Chanwalee’s writings are praised for achieving a fine balance between scientific data and artistic emotion. Again, she credits her mother, her “muse”, for passing on her artistic ability. “I once complained that my family was so poor and parents didn’t leave me any inheritance. But my mother give me the heritage of my DNA and my blood that enable me write.”The rest is hard work and self- discipline. For decades she spent her Sundays, her only free day, to write from morning until evening. “At first, an innate gift can help you write. But only through hard work can you learn to write well.”Elite+ 63