Cover image via Kamal SellehudinMeet Dr. Shanmugam Madhusudhan, a 33-year-old, who is otherwise fondly known among his friends as the teddy bear doctor
Every Saturday night, the 33-year-old doctor, who works with volunteers from Kechara Soup Kitchen, heads out on the streets of Kuala Lumpur to provide medical care to the homeless and others who do not have enough money for hospital treatments
While costs for medication and treatment, including hospital admissions, are covered by [Kechara Soup Kitchen](https://www.facebook.com/KSKPage), private donations from different places fund the ambulance and medical equipment. [According to Susan Tam of Coconuts KL](http://kl.coconuts.co/2015/07/14/all-heart-doctor-takes-street-heal-kls-destitute), Mahamas Ambulance Service from Jalan Pahang Kecil had donated for 11 July.
The Klang-born doctor believes that being out there on the streets and helping people is an experience that was "anytime better than going clubbing".
He is always in a jovial mood, regardless of the conditions he and the volunteers work in. Last Saturday, 11 July, while they were parked next to a heap of rubbish and amidst the usual odours that come from bins and drains, Dr Madhusudhan and his colleagues carried on with their work, using stethoscopes and blood pressure gauges to do routine checks on the patients, writes Susan Tam.
According to the doctor, working on the streets is meaningful and it doesn't matter if it stretches late into the night. "If there are emergency cases, we will usually finish our rounds by 2am or 3am."
His good work, however, is not immune to criticism from others
Dr. Madhusudhan, who is in this for the long-term, hoping to reach out to as many people as he is able to, conducting a basic check up for one of the patients in Chow Kit, which is one of the many stops that the doctor and his team goes to on Saturday nights
Image via Kamal Sellehudin
