July 2 saw the passing away of Victor Thewma, a neighbour, family friend and a dedicated medical practitioner who was a pillar to several communities like the ones in Birkirkara and Għargħur where he resided.
Since this obituary is in a public medium, I will focus exclusively on the latter aspect, even though the former two dimensions affected me more deeply, especially since Victor’s death occurred some 10 days after our neighbourhood – Triq Fidiel Zarb – shockingly lost another fellow who used to make the vicinity thick, the gentle gardener Godwin Azzopardi Ta’ Menz.
As rightly indicated by Fr Jesmond Grech during the funeral homily, for Victor medicine was a vocation rather than a profession. Not that the professional aspect of his work was in any way lacking.
Victor kept himself up to date with the latest innovations in various medical fields, his diagnoses were generally to the point and he was very much esteemed and trusted by specialists in various domains. Yet, the big-hearted manner in which he went about his work was equally conspicuous.
It was extremely rare that a medical examination by Victor would take less than 30 minutes, even if it was for the slightest of ailments. He would first draw a thorough picture of the patient and the context of the ailment through a conspicuous number of appropriate questions.
He would then examine the relevant body parts, plus make the patient undergo some exercise-like routines to check out one’s actual state and situation.
Apart from these strictly medical techniques, one could not fail to notice the human and psychological aspect of these procedures which – though respectful of the different competencies of the two parties – made the doctor-patient engagement a horizontal encounter between two subjects, rather than a top-down exercise. (The only intermissions that were allowed during such standard examinations would consist of small absences where Victor would exit the studio to discuss some HW-related point with his children, or do some minor family chore.)
The fees that Victor would charge for such examinations were, by today’s standards, almost nominal. (In cases of patients coming from a deprived background, he would frequently even waiver such nominal charges.)
In his case, the adage ‘pay peanuts, get monkeys’ definitely did not apply. He made his best affordable to any patient regardless of the latter’s means.
His activity and record clearly indicate that the main motives why Victor undertook his profession were then ones enshrined in the Hypocratic oath, rather than the earning of money. The long hours he worked, visiting patients even in the early hours of the day, were further testament to this.
In a consumerist society like ours, where success is measured in terms of how much money one makes (regardless of the manner in which such ‘success’ is achieved), people like Victor who implicitly upheld a different understanding of what it is to make it in life, ought to be signalled out as role models for people in any profession to imitate by those who want a change in society’s metrics and modus operandi.
Finally, another aspect of Victor that used to strike me – apart from his fanatical devotion to F.C. Internazionale – was his spirituality. Victor was truly a person of faith, in a committed, discerning and mature manner. His personality was living evidence that there is no contradiction between possessing a sharp scientific brain and a pious and spiritual disposition.
One can say that on all fronts – in both religious and secular senses – Victor was a paradigm of what it means to engage in the good fight.
Michael Grech