October 18, 2010
Hazel and Harold were batch mates while studying medicine in Mysore Medical College in Mysore and ever since they have pursued their lives together as a couple sharing similar traits, tastes and a passion of serving the sick as medical practitioners of repute. ‘Drs Furtado’ as Dr Hazel and Dr Harold are generally known in Mangalore, are never tired of their first love of reaching out to the sick who come in search of them from Mangalore and other parts of the coastal district. This shy, soft -spoken couple who are in their late 60’s are wary about public glare and are just happy going about their work which gives them utmost happiness and fulfillment and that is why they have not thought about retiring as yet. .
“We are not tired and that is why the thought of retiring has not come to come to our mind though we have slowed down the pace of the work in the recent past”, says Dr Hezel Furtado, well known Obstetrician and Gynecologist , speaking on behalf of both. Dr Herold Walter Furtado got specialized in General Surgery and Urology and FRCS from Edinburgh in 1972. Dr Hezel got her RCOG and MRCOG from Royal College of Obstetrician and Gynecology, London. In recognition of her long service in the medical field Dr Hezel was elected as a fellow of Royal College a few year back. The couple had worked in United Kingdom for eight years and ever since their return to India in 1975 they have been active in their chosen field of service working for hospitals and in their own private clinic. While Herold was attached to Fr Muller Hospital and worked there for 30 years Hezel worked for KMC Mangalore and retired as Professor after rendering 30 years of diligent service.
Though retired from hospitals they have not yet called it a day and are active freelancing for various hospitals and attend to patients in their private clinic. “We enjoy our profession and that is what keeps us going. The patients usually want to be treated by a particular doctor and our regular patients who depend on us for treatment also keep us motivated to go on. It also keeps us busy”, Harold states. The couple plan to continue with their work for another 2 to 3 years and then take a sabbatical to lead a normal life spending more time with children and grand children and also by devoting more time to their hobbies. Hezel likes to dabble in the kitchen as she is fond of experimenting with her culinary skills while Harold has a penchant for gardening, reading and he loves listening to western classical music. The couple say they have lived life fully, enjoyed travelling widely and now would like to be lead a languid life taking things with ease and with a playful levity.
Hazel says she has cut down drastically on deliveries in the last few years as it is too taxing at this age. The couple have slowly begun to lead a normal life by taking things little easier than before though they go to the clinic every day and attend to patients for few specific hours during the day. “We cannot sit at home idle as patients call and come asking for us and it gives us tremendous satisfaction to be at their service”, the couple contend.
Dr Hazel who belonged to Bejai, comes from a family of doctors and was naturally inclined towards taking medicine as a profession. Her two brothers and brother-in-law were doctors. Her uncle Dr Henry D Souza was a famous Obstetrician and general practitioner of Mangalore. Her father late J M Sequeira was the district sessions judge of Mangalore. Harold is basically from Mulky but had his pre-medical education at St Aloysius High School and College, where he was a boarder. His father, also an Aloysian had joined the army those days without informing his parents and had returned after the completion of 1st world war He was keen his son joins medicine and Harold did not disappoint him.
“We were in the same batch and were thrown together for many practical classes during our medical course. The fact that we were both Catholics and from Mangalore is what brought us together initially and we got along well” says Dr Harold reminiscing their initial days of coming to know each other. They were engaged in Mangalore in 1967 before they left for England and got married in 1968 in England. “We got our employment voucher for London and had to leave within a month and there was no option but to get engaged here and go in a jiffy”, Hezel recounts.
The Furtado family’s rendezvous with the medical field continues as both their sons are doctors. Elder son Dr Sunil Furtado is a MCH in Neuro-surgery and is working for Sri Sathya Sai Hospital in Bangalore. He is married to Dr Shireen, Dermatologist, working for St Johns Hospital in Bangalore. Younger son Arul Furtado is specialized in Super Speciality Cardio Thoracic Surgery and is associated with Jayadeva Hospital, Bangalore. He is married to Dr Jonita who is studying her MD Medicine at Fr Muller Medical College.
With the entire family associated with medical field one is tend to believe the family lacks the dosage of anything else other than medical field. “It is not so. Once we are home we are normal like other people and we never discuss patients at home. That is the unwritten rule”, Dr Hezel adds.
No doubt the medical field has undergone humungous changes ever since they specialized in their respective fields decades back. But the Furtado’s keep abreast of the changes by reading and interacting with their counterparts and when the need arises to go for latest techniques in dealing with a challenging problems, they assign it to people who are well versed and trained in handling such particular problems that call for the application of advanced technology and treatment process.
What does the couple has to say about the general scenario in the medical field? The couple lament the large scale commercialization of the medical field wherein they feel fear is put into the minds of the patients initially when they approach the doctors and that often leads to unnecessary and unwanted surgeries or treatments which can be easily avoided. The Furtados feel that the younger generation should be a bit conservative in their outlook and approach in the management of illnesses. For example if a gall bladder stones or symptomatic fibroids are detected accidentally during ultrasound and if they are not actually causing any discomfort to the person in question, there is no need to go for a surgery.
Dr Hazel’s advice to all women is to go for a thorough gynecological check up to avoid any major complications and follow this schedule once in two years.
Age or decades of service in the field has not withered their passion for the profession and they still persist with what they have been doing all these years – that of attending to patients who come to them with faith. To win over and retain the faith of so many people even after so many years and that too with drastic changes, advancement and specialization in the medical field, is a great achievement indeed.
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