Science, Stories and Sevagram: A Physician-Teacher's Reflections
He obtained MD (Medicine) but never practised as a physician. He headed the department of Forensic Medicine but never obtained MD in the subject that he led! Dr. Radheshyam Naik, one of the greatest pillars of the Department of Forensic Medicine, was paradox personified. On Sunday, 1 April 2018, he died peacefully at home. He … Read more
A year ago, on this very day, Reddy left us. For close to three-and-a-half decades, we had lived together. Our children grew together. We built our homes—only a green hedge separating them. He showered incessant love and affection on my children. He shared his moments of joy and sorrow with me. We had almost taken … Read more
The Lancet (http://www.thelancet.com/series/low-back-pain) this week has published three papers on low back pain, which should be read by everyone with a back. Authored by an international group of authors, who examine the current evidence and offer recommendations that are based on solid science, these papers make one sit up and take notice. The Lancet says … Read more
Rakesh Khera (MGIMS Class of 1986) took to urology like a duck to water. Much water has flown since he acquired his MCH in Urosurgery, but his insatiable thirst for knowledge remains unquenched. Rakesh has just put up a book on Urinary Tract Infections. Although UTIs are common, doctors do not know how to handle … Read more
Dr. Mandeep Mehra (MGIMS Sevagram alumnus; Class of 1983) today published a landmark trial in the New England Journal of Medicine. His paper showed that a mechanical pump implanted in the heart of patients with advanced heart failure could make the patients breathe better, and walk longer—without increasing the risk of pump-induced strokes. To earn … Read more
“Move fast. Don’t waste your time. I already know the background of your institute,” Mr. M. Venkaiah Naidu, the Vice-President, seemed to be impetuously impatient and in a haste, as I was about to make my PowerPoint presentation. Mr. Naidu had come to Sevagram this Sunday to inaugurate the operating theatre of our hospital. My … Read more
Unbelievable, but true. Robert Liston, a Scottish surgeon (1784-1847) practised orthopaedic surgery all over Britain. He obtained specialisation in amputations, practising in an era when anaesthesia was in infancy. Cutting and sawing on a conscious, screaming patient took strong nerves and a strong stomach. The shorter the operation, Liston thought, the lesser the pain the … Read more
Atul Gawande, the surgeon-researcher-public health activist in his recent essay describes the current medical practice so succinctly : “Millions of people are receiving drugs that aren’t helping them, operations that aren’t going to make them better, and scans and tests that do nothing beneficial for them, and often cause harm.” Once a test or a … Read more
Bevan Congdon died today. I remember his two towering sixes in the 1969 Nagpur test (India vs. New Zealand) – incidentally, the first cricket match that I saw live at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur. A connoisseur’s dream, he scored match-winning sixty-plus in the first inning and had no problems reading the variations in … Read more
I am unable to pronounce the names of many new drugs. I tried hard and then gave up. Incurable diseases and unpronounceable drugs- the combination is deadly.