“You need to be a good psychologist to be a good TB doctor”

May 28, 2021

Sultanmurat Atabekovich Cholponbaev, devoted TB doctor. Photo: Dmitry Motinov / UNDP Kyrgyzstan

Instead of ordinary paintings hanging on the walls, Sultanmurat’s room is decorated with the many awards and gratitude letters he’s received in his 59 years as a TB doctor. 85 year old Sultanmurat Atabekovich Cholponbaev retired one year ago, but is still popular in his district: whenever he runs into a former patient, they stop to have a chat. “A lot of people here have been in my hands,” he says.

Sultanmurat is known by his colleagues and patients for having been an excellent doctor, very gentle and caring. His efforts saved the lives of many, as he did everything in his power to keep patients on treatment.

TB treatment is particularly long and difficult, but needs to be completed to be efficient. One of the main tasks of health care workers in this field is to ensure that patients take it regularly, fully and until full recovery.

“Words save”

“You need to be a good psychologist to be a good TB doctor”, says Sultanmurat. “Otherwise, you won’t be able to understand your patients and get through to them.” Doctor Sultanmurat used to spend a lot of time with each patient, and with their families too, to convince them that they will get better with treatment and that life doesn’t end with TB.

“You need to explain everything well to patients, to show them concrete examples, to gain their trust and to become like family. Learning you have TB is an emotional shock, a psychological blow, and patients need your help to live on.”

“I remember a patient who was working in a factory. When I gave him his diagnosis, he said: ‘That’s all, I won’t live’, and he fainted. That’s how heart-struck he was.” But Sultanmurat Cholponbaev didn’t let him give up. He talked to him, his wife and his children and showed them X-Rays of cured patients – and it’s with new hope that the patient was able to overcome his fears and find the strength to beat TB, which he did. “He started to believe in treatment and he survived. Years later, he’s still grateful to me; he says I saved his life.”

For any treatment to be effective, emotional determination is crucial. You need to believe in it and to want to recover. “Patients are stressed, worried, and they suffer from stigma. You need to help them with kind words. Words cure, words save,” says Sultanmurat, who has dedicated his entire life to doing this. 

Photo: Dmitry Motinov / UNDP Kyrgyzstan

The eternal student

“TB is treatable and there’s no reason to be scared. The only thing is that treatment is long, so motivation is all the more important.”

Sultanmurat considers that health care workers should not only be good scientists, but also good psychologists, intellectuals and communicators. “You shouldn’t like power. You shouldn’t be rude. And you always need to work on yourself: if you are stressed, then how can you help others?”

Sultanmurat’s tiny flat is very simple, with the few pieces of Soviet-style furniture that have accompanied him over the years and a radio instead of a T.V. But his shelves and table are covered with books on medicine, psychology and classical literature. He calls himself an “eternal student” and he’s right to say so: “I’ve always read a lot, and I love music too. You shouldn’t live without music. Music helps to understand people,” he says, as he takes out his komuz, a Kyrgyz national instrument, to play a song. “Doctors need to be ambitious and cultivated. You can’t understand life until you go through life yourself.”

Originally from Toktogul, Sultanmurat grew up in the mountains and the fields, harvesting, sowing and breeding livestock. But he’s always been keen on education, reading book after book and learning the Russian language by himself.

“I had a very hard life. The war started when I was in first grade. I saw famine and misery. It was cold and we had no clothes. Children died of hunger. There were no men left in the villages. Women worked everywhere, even in construction. And I helped them,” he remembers. “I saw a lot of hard things in life, so I grew up patient and hard-working.” 

Sultanmurat Atabekovich Cholponbaev at work. Photo: Dmitry Motinov / UNDP Kyrgyzstan

Endless devotion

Sultanmurat has always been entirely devoted to his profession and his patients. He never went out while he was at university, but instead, he stayed locked up with his textbooks. He started his career in a mining town in the Jalal-Abad district, then switched to the regional hospital, where he learned a lot from R.G Bauer, the founder of the very first TB hospital in southern Kyrgyzstan. “He taught me how to be a good doctor,” says Sultanmurat. “Back then, people came in like skeletons and could barely breathe. There were more severe forms of TB.” Sultanmurat says that the hospital had a greenhouse to cultivate fresh vegetables for the patients year round, and with the help of four balanced meals every day, patients were able to recover.

Of course, much has changed since, and Sultanmurat is particularly grateful to international organizations like UNDP and USAID who have brought about “great changes”. “The methods and treatments they’ve introduced are very effective,” he says.

Sultanmurat’s interest in TB has not moved an inch since his retirement. In fact, he keeps up to date on TB and even writes articles. “You need to love your profession and to love people,” he says. In his long career, he’s been asked more than once why he chose this field, at the risk of getting tuberculosis himself. But he’s never even thought about changing careers, and, thankfully, has never got sick. “People get tuberculosis when their immune system suddenly collapses. It’s important to have a healthy lifestyle and to be psychologically strong,” he says. At the age of 85, Sultanmurat still spends his days reading and learning, goes out for daily walks and cooks savory balanced meals on his own.