Doctor by the weekend, Bhutan PM Lotay Tshering is winning hearts online

“I will continue doing this until I die and I miss not being able to be here every day. Whenever I drive to work on weekdays, I wish I could turn left towards the hospital,” Bhutan Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering said.

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Describing his medical work as a “de-stresser”, he in a recent interview said how he likes to operate.

For most prime ministers around the world, their hands are pretty tied overseeing governance and maintaining diplomatic relations. However, in the ‘world’s happiest’ country Bhutan, the PM spends his weekend being a doctor helping patients.

Dr Lotay Tshering is one of Bhutan’s most highly regarded doctors and even though he was elected as the prime minister last year, he hasn’t stopped fulfilling his job as a surgeon. On Saturdays, he spends hours treating and operating on patients referred to him.

Describing his medical work as a “de-stresser”, Bhutan PM recently told news agency AFP, “Some people play golf, some do archery, and I like to operate.”

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“I will continue doing this until I die and I miss not being able to be here every day,” he added. “Whenever I drive to work on weekdays, I wish I could turn left towards the hospital.”

He also compared running the country and treating patients as quite similar. “At the hospital, I scan and treat patients. In the government, I scan the health of policies and try to make them better,” he said. He also does academic rounds on Thursday mornings from 7.30 am to 10 am giving advice to trainees and new doctors.

The Himalayan country, famous for measuring citizens’ Gross National Happiness, is now winning hearts online for its PM.

Tshering, who trained in Bangladesh, Japan, Australia and the US, began his political career in 2013. However, his party failed to make headway in that year’s election.

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However, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck appointed him to lead a team of doctors and travel to the kingdom’s far-flung villages to provide free medical treatment.

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