Science, Stories and Sevagram: A Physician-Teacher's Reflections
Reading Time: 4 minutesReminiscences- this weekend was filled with them. On December 19- thirty years since the first resident obtained her MD Medicine from the institute -a third of the hundred residents from the department of medicine gathered in Sevagram. Beginning 1979, exactly hundred residents had completed their MD training in the Medicine department, a number that aroused … Read more
Reading Time: 2 minutesSunday morning. I was rounding with my residents. We moved as a group to the ICU, stopping at each bed. A middle-aged woman with a heart attack. A boy fighting malaria. A young man battling HIV and TB. We checked their vitals, reviewed test results, and adjusted their treatment. At bed 7, a young woman … Read more
Reading Time: 3 minutesLast week, a previously healthy 50-year-old man died in our hospital following a massive stroke. A CT scan revealed a deep intracerebral hemorrhage. Sudden death evokes a torrent of emotions—shock, denial, frustration, anger, and grief—not necessarily in that order. Shortly after the patient’s death in our ICU, a furious mob of nearly 50 people bypassed … Read more
Reading Time: 4 minutesA couple of days ago, I happened to see my friend’s grandchild. The three-month old baby, the child’s mother noted, had slow wandering eye movements and did not seem to focus well. The child had albinism- a disorder that affects colour of hair, skin and eyes. The mother was getting jittery. Will my son be … Read more
Reading Time: 2 minutesOn 15 November 2009, The Week released its annual list of the country’s best hospitals, categorized by specialties such as cardiology, oncology, orthopaedics, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, and paediatrics. The rankings were based on a 14-city survey conducted by The Week in collaboration with IMRB, a market research agency. The survey included responses from 10 specialists across … Read more
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA day before, I wrote that we should not sell mammography as a screening modality in resource limited setting. Today’s Annals of Internal Medicine carries recommendation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) on screening for breast cancer in general population. Interestingly, USPSTF in 2002 had advocated for routine screening mammography at age 40; … Read more
Reading Time: 4 minutesA year before, our hospital acquired a mammography unit, aimed at early detection of breast cancer in women. We did so at the behest of Medical Council of India (MCI) – provision of mammography is one of the several prerequisites for granting approval for MD (Radiodiagnosis) post-graduation programme. Eager to win MCI approval, we spent … Read more
Reading Time: 3 minutesTaori sir and bhabhi. Forty years back, an arranged marriage brought you together. Sir, you joined the department of Biochemistry in a medical school that was beginning to take roots in Sevagram. Bhabhi chose to be a homemaker. Your children went to the same medical school where you served as a faculty for three decades … Read more
Reading Time: 3 minutesSmart ties, black bags and glib tongues. It has been more than four years since Kasturba hospital saw medical representatives on campus. We took this measure to counter the growing perception that interaction between doctors and medical sales representatives was harming our patients’ economic health. Not an easy decision. Some doctors clearly felt uncomfortable. “Medical … Read more
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe MD theses, finally, are over. Focused research questions, great introductions, meticulous methods, well-laid out results and structured discussions. But what the theses won’t have this year is their most readable section – acknowledgements. The section, guides loved to leaf through in the close confines of their office. The section that boosted their self-esteem. The … Read more